Contents

The club was formed as a gymnastics club in 1861, under the name of TV Jahn Straubing. Football in Straubing was first represented at top-level in the 1931–32 season, when the FC Straubing, formed in 1921, spent a year in the Bezirksliga Bayern. Another attempt was made by the military team of Luftwaffen SV Straubing, which played in the Gauliga Südbayern from 1942 to 1944.

The current club, TSV Straubing, formed in 1945 out of a merger of TV Jahn and FC, first appeared in the upper reaches of Bavarian football in 1946, when a regional Niederbayern title earned it promotion to the Landesliga Bayern (II).[1]TSV became part of the southern division of this league, where it played for two seasons as a mid-table side. In 1948, when the league was again reduced to one single division, Straubing missed out on direct qualification, coming seventh when a sixth place was needed. The club was however offered a second chance, having to play the seventh placed team from the north and beating TSV 04 Schwabach 1–0 and thereby securing a spot for the next Landesliga season after all.[2]

Straubing scored another seventh place in 1950–51, its first season in the 2nd Oberliga and performed one spot better in the following year.[4] In 1952–53, it came closer to relegation trouble, finishing eleventh; the next year a 13th place and a gap of only four points saw the club's worst season in the league yet.[5] In 1955, the team finished sixth, after that, until 1957, it became a secure mid-table side.[6] The 1957–58 season saw TSV came within two points of relegation, despite finishing twelfth out of eighteen teams. After this, two got seasons followed with mid-table results again.[7]

The 1960–61 season was to be Straubings last as a second division side, it came last in the league and was narrowly relegated, one point shy of a non-relegation spot.[8]

Back in the third division, which was now the Amateurliga Südbayern, TSV finished fourth in 1962 and took out the league title the season after.[9] The club was unfortunate in that the introduction of the Fußball-Bundesliga and the disbanding of the Oberliga and 2nd Oberliga meant, no promotion was available that season. TSV, having won all 16 home games this season, also took out the Bavarian championship with a 5–1 win in the third game against 1. FC Bamberg from the northern division.[10]

As a further change to the league system, Bavaria's top league now played in single division format again and TSV Straubing very narrowly avoided relegation in 1963–64.[11] The club improved again after this, earning upper-table finishes in the coming seasons, going as far as a third place in 1967–68.[12] After this, the club rapidly declined, finishing 16th in 1969 but staying up. Another 16th place the year after however meant relegation to the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte (IV).[13]

Straubing came second in the Landesliga in 1970–71 but only the champions were promoted in this era and the club's fortunes in the league became a mixed bag after this, a good season followed by an average one. In 1976–77, another second place, two points behind champions FC Herzogenaurach, proved again not enough and in 1979 the club suffered relegation to the Bezirksliga instead. Straubing immediately recovered, earned promotion back to the Landesliga and finished second once more in the league in 1981 and unsuccessfully took part in the Promotion to the Oberliga Bayern. That season, the clubs ice hockey department left to form the EHC Straubing.[14] The club finally returned to what was now the Amateur Oberliga Bayern in 1982, taking out the league title in the Landesliga. TSV finished seventh in this league in 1982–83, on equal points with newly relegated TSV 1860 Munich, but could only finish 18th the year after and was relegated back to the Landesliga.[15]

Back in the Landesliga, Straubing was immediately relegated again, to the Bezirksliga. It managed to recover but came last in the Landesliga in 1986–87 and did not manage to return to this level for another nine seasons. The club became part of the new Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern in 1988.[16]

In 1996, the club took out the Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern (VI) title and returned to the Landesliga for five seasons. Initially, starting with a fifth place, the club performed well but then declined season by season and was once again relegated in 2001, after an 18th-place finish.

In 2009 Straubing was relegated from the Bezirksliga and the club dropped through the ranks from there, to the Kreisklasse in 2011 and the A-Klasse in 2013. The club became insolvent in April 2013 and was automatically relegated from the Kreisklasse to the A-Klasse. The club however did not field a team in 2013–14.[17] At some stage after this the club was disbanded.[18]

With the introduction of the Bezirksoberligas in 1988 as the new fifth tier, below the Landesligas, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the establishment of the Regionalliga Bayern as the new fourth tier in Bavaria in 2012 the Bayernliga was split into a northern and a southern division, the number of Landesligas expanded from three to five and the Bezirksoberligas abolished. All leagues from the Bezirksligas onward were elevated one tier.

1.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread

2.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today

3.
Football in Germany
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Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a system, with the Bundesliga and 2. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion, additionally, there are national cup competitions, most notably the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup. The Germany national football team has won four FIFA World Cups and it also holds a record three UEFA European Championships. The Germany womens national team has won two FIFA Womens World Cups and a record eight UEFA European Womens Championships. Germany is the nation that has won both the mens and womens World Cup. In addition, Germany is the nation to have won the applicable regional/continental championship for both the mens and womens team. No team has more combined mens and womens World Cup championships, the first football match arguably took place in Braunschweig in 1874. Two schoolteachers, August Hermann and Konrad Koch, initiated the first match after Hermann had obtained a round football from England, in 1875, Koch published the first German version of the rules of football, although Kochs version of the game still closely resembled Rugby football. The Dresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and it was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working around Dresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity, Football clubs were founded in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe. On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 football clubs from German-speaking areas in and outside the German Empire met in the restaurant Mariengarten in Leipzig, the founding meeting was led by E. J. Kirmse, chairman of the Leipziger Fussball Verband. Ferdinand Hueppe, representing the DFC Prag, was elected first president of the DFB, the first championship beyond municipal areas was held in 1898 from the Verband Sueddeutscher Fussball-Vereine, later affiliated with the DFB. The German national football team represents Germany in international football competitions since 1908 and it is controlled by the German Football Association DFB, the governing body of football in Germany. After the war, Germany was occupied in three states, the DFB and its team continued in what was called West Germany, while the Saarland and East Germany fielded separate teams for some years. The FIFA World Cup 1974 was staged in West Germany, meeting on 22 June 1974 in a politically charged match in Hamburg, East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, on a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. Both German teams advanced to the second round anyway, the GDR team was eliminated there, while the DFB team eventually went on to win the tournament

4.
Straubing
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Straubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen, annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the Danube forming the centre of the Gäuboden, the area of Straubing has been continuously settled since the Neolithic. The conquest by the Romans in 16–14 BC had a impact on the whole region. Even today many traces of the 400-year Roman occupation can be found, for example, sorviodurum, as the Romans called it, was an important military support base. After the fall of the Roman Empire Straubing became a centre of settlement of the Bavarii, according to the customs of the Bavarii the settlement was named after their leader Strupinga, which later evolved into the name Straubing. In 1218 a new part of the city was founded by Duke Ludwig I Wittelsbach of Bavaria, Straubing became the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing under Duke Wilhelm I when Bavaria was divided among the sons of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1349. In 1429 Straubing passed to Ernest, Duke of Bavaria-Munich, who ordered the murder of Agnes Bernauer in Straubing, the grave of Agnes Bernauer cannot be found. But in the graveyard of St. Peters Church is a built by Duke Ernest. In 1633, during the Thirty Years War, the Swedish army successfully besieged the city, nowadays, this new town is the centre of Straubing with many shops, offices, restaurants and a pedestrian area. Most buildings there still have medieval style, the nightlife of Straubing, with many pubs and discothèques, is concentrated in this area. Between 1933 and 1945 most of the members of the then small Jewish community of Straubing were murdered or forced to emigrate, in 2006, Straubing had a lively Jewish community with around 950 members. During a rally in June 1940, when Straubing and Bogen held its Kriegskreistag, among the speakers were Gauleiter Wächtler and Gauamtsleiter Erbersdobler. In July 1940, the Donau-Zeitung reported that the Straubing Kreisleiter, Anton Putz, had flown toward France, in 1944 and 1945, Straubing suffered from several American air raids. The local military hospital was destroyed to the extent of 80 percent with a loss of 45 patients, in November 2016 a fire destroyed a greater part of the medieval town hall. Straubing has many areas and a port at the river Danube with access to the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. It is the centre of the Bavarian high tech offensive in biotechnology, as one of five ducal residences of medieval Bavaria the old town of Straubing especially features many Gothic buildings. The Romanesque Church of St. Peter The Gothic City tower The Gothic town hall The medieval ducal castle or Herzogsschloss, Duke Albert I began the construction in 1356

5.
Straubing Tigers
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The Straubing Tigers are a professional mens ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, which plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which can hold 5,800 spectators. The Tigers were promoted to the DEL in 2006, until 2012, the team could not finish better than twelfth in the league, due to having one of the leagues smallest budgets. They reached the playoff semi-finals of the 2011–12 DEL season, Official Tigers Site Official EHC Straubing Site

6.
Deutsche Eishockey Liga
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The Deutsche Eishockey Liga or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league that was founded in 1994. It was formed as a replacement for the Eishockey-Bundesliga and became the new league in Germany as a result. Unlike the old Bundesliga, the DEL is not under the administration of the German Ice Hockey Federation, the DEL currently has the highest number of American and Canadian players outside North America. In the 2015–16 season the league was the second-best supported in Europe, behind the Swiss National League A, the Eishockey-Bundesliga was formed in 1957 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position. It was in turn replaced by the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, which now carries the name 1st Bundesliga in its logo. The DEL was founded in the 1994–95 season, consisting of teams from the Eishockey-Bundesligas 1st, the condition of these earlier leagues had become intolerable. Many 1st and 2nd division teams were heavily in debt, the 2nd division attracted few sponsors and spectators. As a result, many clubs were forced to fold or withdraw to the lower leagues, fans and corporate sponsors focused on the 1st Bundesliga teams, forcing the elite teams to invest heavily in players to avoid relegation. This increased budgets 25 percent over the two years. In the final Bundesliga season, 1993–94, only 11 teams wanted to play in the 2nd Bundesliga, furthermore, two teams folded during and after the season. Ice hockeys reputation in Germany was heavily tarnished and this made it difficult to attract serious sponsorship. In January 1994,20 out of the remaining 21 1st and 2nd Bundesliga teams voted for creating a new entity, upon founding, the DEL Betriebsgesellschaft mbH was the first German professional sports league managed by an organization whose members were incorporated as well. The goal behind the DEL was to create a league, based on the model of the North American NHL, in which teams could play consistently without relegation concerns, clubs in the DEL were required to conform to rules, which were designed to ensure long-term viability. Twelve clubs from the old 1st Bundesliga, and six from the 2nd Bundesliga came together as founding members, the new league immediately attracted corporate sponsorship with the Krombacher Brewery, which was prominently featured on the new league logo. The hope of avoiding the troubles of the old Bundesliga by stricter financial controls did not materialize, during DELs initial season, on 18 December 1994, the Bundesligas final champion, the renamed EC Hedos München, folded. This was controversial, as DELs president Franz Hofherr had approved their license, Hofherr was Mad Dogs former president and it was alleged that he must have known about their desperate financial situation. The Bosman ruling, a 1995 decision of the European Court of Justice regarding the movement of labor in soccer, had influence on the league. The old Bundesliga had national character with German clubs competing for the German title using mostly German players, after the ruling European Union players were excluded from the foreign player quota

7.
Bezirksliga Bayern
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The Bezirksliga Bayern was the highest association football league in the German state of Bavaria from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, the league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse. Until the introduction of the Bezirksliga, the Kreisliga Südbayern and Kreisliga Nordbayern were the highest leagues in the state, in its second season, the league started to incooperate clubs from the city of Ulm, Württemberg, which lays right across the border from Bavaria. Otherwise, the modus of the league remained unchanged but only the champion qualified for the Southern German finals in this season. For the 1926-27 season, the league was expanded to ten teams, the top team was again qualified for the finals. Additionally, the SpVgg Fürth as Southern German cup winner qualified for this round. The runners-up of the Bezirksligas in the south also played a round to determine a third team from the region to go to the German finals. After this season, the league was split into a northern and a group, the north having nine. The winner of each division would advance to the Southern German finals while the two again played in a separate round like in the previous season. The 1928-29 season saw no change in modus but both leagues now operated on a strength of eight clubs, the qualification system for the finals also remained unchanged. This system remained in place until 1931, for the 1931-32 season, both divisions were expanded to ten teams. The top-two teams from each league then advanced to the Southern German finals, the same system applied for the final season of the league in 1932-33. With the rise of the Nazis to power, the Gauligas were introduced as the highest football leagues in Germany, in Bavaria, the Gauliga Bayern replaced the Bezirksliga Bayern as the highest level of play. The twelve best teams from Bavaria qualified for this new, statewide league, the clubs from the Bezirksliga Bayern were among the most successful in Germany in this era, specifically the 1. The league was formed from eight clubs from Bavaria,1, FC Nuremberg SpVgg Fürth FC Bayern Munich FV Nürnberg TSV1860 München Wacker München VfR Fürth TSV Schwaben Augsburg Source, Bezirksliga Bayern. The FV Nürnberg joined the ASV Nürnberg in 1925

8.
Niederbayern
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Lower Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions - Landshut and Donau-Wald, recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge margins to the CSU. This part of Bavaria includes the Bavarian Forest, a well-known tourist destination in Germany, to the scenic attractions belong the River Danube and the Bavarian Forest with Mount Großer Arber. The duchy of Lower Bavaria was created for the first time with the First Bavarian partition in 1255 under duke Henry, after the reunification in 1340 Bavaria was divided again in 1349, in 1353 Bavaria-Straubing and Bavaria-Landshut were created in Lower Bavaria. In 1505 Bavaria was irrevocably reunited, after the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions, in Bavaria called Kreise. They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, in the following years, due to territorial changes, the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the Unterdonaukreis, in 1837 king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps, thus the name Unterdonaukreis changed to Lower Bavaria. The district capital was moved from Passau to Landshut, in 1971 Lower Bavaria again was reshaped when the districts covered were reshaped, too. Official website of government Official website of region

9.
Landesliga Bayern
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The current Landesligas were formed in 1963, when the Bundesliga was established. From 2012, when the Regionalliga Bayern was established, the Landesligas were expanded from three to five divisions, previous to that, from 1945 to 1950, the Landesliga Bayern existed as a tier-two league below the Oberliga Süd. From 1945 to 1950, the Bayernliga was called Landesliga Bayern and it was then the second tier of Southern German Football. The league was established after the Second World War, consisting of nine clubs, after its first season, 1945–46, it expanded to two divisions, north and south, with eleven clubs each. At the end of season, the two champions played for the Bavarian title and Oberliga promotion. In 1947-48, each division had 13 clubs, in its last two seasons, 1948–49 and 1949–50, the league returned to a single division format. In 1948-49, it consisted of 16 clubs with the top two teams earning promotion, in 1949-50,14 clubs were in the league and the best five teams earned entry to the newly formed 2. Oberliga Süd, which became the second tier in Southern Germany, the remaining nine clubs plus seven promoted teams formed the new Amateurliga Bayern, now the third tier. Since the start of the promotion play-offs in 1981, Landesliga Süd had won the extra spot 17 times, Landesliga Mitte 8 times, in 1985,1994,1996 and 2003 additional spots were available on top of the usual four. The German word Landesliga can be pretty literally translated as State League, the winners of those gained promotion, the runners-up faced a promotion play-off for a number of promotion spot which vary from season to season. Previous to that, the Bezirksligas were set below the Landesligas, only four teams in Bavaria have never dropped down to Landesliga level, these being FC Bayern Munich, TSV1860 München,1. Since 1980, the teams of Landesliga clubs are permitted to enter the league system. Previous to that, they had to compete in separate leagues, with only teams in the Bayernliga. The Bavarian football federation decided on changes to the league system from 2012 onwards. With the introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern from 2012–13, it placed two Bayernligas, north and south, below the new league as the new tier of the German league system. Below those, five Landesligas instead of the three were set, which would be geographically divided to limit travel and increase the number of local derbies

10.
FC Bayern Hof
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SpVgg Bayern Hof is a German association football club based in Hof, Bavaria. The club was founded on 1 June 1910 as Ballspielclub Hof, in 1913, they merged with FC Roland Hof and FC Phoenix Hof to become FC Bayern Hof. FC Bayern Hof was a decent, but unremarkable, local side through its early decades and it spent five seasons in the tier-one Bezirksliga Bayern from 1927. However, by that time World War II had overtaken that part of the country, after the war Bayern Hof advanced to the Landesliga Bayern in 1946 where they came out on top of the Staffel Nordbayern only to lose the divisional playoff to Wacker München. League re-structuring saw the club in the 2, Oberliga Süd to open the 1951–52 season. They remained competitive throughout the decade, generally finishing in the top half of the table, a second place result in 1959 put the club into Oberliga Süd to play first division football for the first time. In the pre-season 1969/70 Bayern Hof had a taste of football as they took part in the 1969 Cup of the Alps. In fact they hosted three games at their Stadion Grüne Au against Hellas Verona, Lausanne Sports and Bologna, in 1978, they slipped to the tier-three Bayernliga and began a descent that would land them in Landesliga Bayern-Nord by 1980. It made a permanent return to the Oberliga Bayern in 1994, when the new Regionalliga Süd was formed. A decade in the Bayernliga saw the finish fourth three times, in 1996,2000 and 2002, but, in 2004, it was relegated again. In 2005 FC Bayern Hof merged with SpVgg Hof to form SpVgg Bayern Hof, SpVgg Hof had been formed in 1893 as the football department of the gymnastics club TV Hof, itself founded in 1861. In 2006 the newly unified club captured the title in the Landesliga Bayern-Nord and were promoted to the fourth division Bayernliga. A difficult 2007–08 season saw the club in relegation trouble all season but eventually they managed to climb one rank above the relegation zone. In this game, a 1–0 victory over Jahn Regensburg II proved enough to maintain its league status, the following season, Hof was a strong contender for the league title, eventually coming second to TSV1860 Rosenheim and earning promotion to the new Regionalliga Bayern. The club was criticised by the BFV for its desolate second team who, uniquely for a Regionalliga team, was relegated from the ninth tier in 2011–12. In the 2012–13 season the club had to struggle against relegation all season and beyond, in a two-leg play-off against TSV Großbardorf Hof defended its league place with an aggregate score of 8–4. The following season the club finished 17th once more but this time was directly relegated back to the Bayernliga, Hof finished third in the Bayernliga in 2015–16 and qualified for the promotion round to the Regionaliga where it defeated Viktoria Aschaffenburg and returned to the fourth tier. Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality

11.
ASV Cham
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The ASV Cham is a German association football club from the city of Cham, Bavaria. The clubs most notable achievement was playing in the division from 1950 to 1962. The ASV Cham was formed as a club in 1863. After the end of the Second World War, TV was joined by another club, FC Cham, adopting the current name, ASV Cham. The new club almost immediately enjoyed success, earning promotion to the Landesliga Bayern in 1949 by winning its local Oberpfalz league. The 1949–50 season of the Landesliga was to be the last for the league as a new division for the region. To qualify for this league, Cham had to finish in the top-five of the division, after only one season in the Landesliga, the club had earned promotion to the 2nd Oberliga alongside 1. FC Bamberg, FC Bayern Hof, TSV Straubing and FC Wacker München, ASV was to become the second-longest serving club in this league, behind 1. FC Pforzheim, who played every season of it, and equal to SV Wiesbaden, in the first season of the new 2nd Oberliga, 1950–51, ASV achieved a very respectable fifth place, four points behind a promotion rank. The following season, the only managed a 13th place. The 1952–53 season saw a repeat of this result but this time, the 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons saw the club continue to struggle but in 1955–56, it returned to better results, coming fifth once more. The following season saw a repeat of this result, from 1958 onwards, the clubs fortunes declined and four seasons of struggle against relegation followed. ASV came ever closer to dropping down to the Amateurliga Bayern, the introduction of the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1963 meant large-scale changes to the German football league system. The Oberligas and 2nd Oberligas were disbanded and in Bavaria, the Amateurliga Bayern was reduced from two to one division. Back in the division of Bavarias highest football league, the Amateurliga Südbayern, Cham managed to achieve a fifth place. This, however, proved to be a success, in 1963–64. In the Landesliga, the club established itself as a side for the first couple of seasons but in 1968, it suffered another relegation. ASV Chan disappeared in the amateur leagues of the Oberpfalz region, even briefly dropping out of the Bezirksliga in 1974

12.
Landesliga Bayern-Mitte
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The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte was the sixth tier of the German football league system in southern Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008, it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier. The league was disbanded in 2012, when the Regionalliga Bayern was introduced as the new tier of the German league system in Bavaria. Below this league, the Bayernliga was expanded to two divisions while the number of state leagues grew from three to five divisions, the Landesligen in Bayern were formed in 1963, in place of the 2nd Amateurligas, which operated below the Bayernliga until then. In the region of the Landesliga Mitte, the 2nd Amateurligen were split into three groups, Niederbayern, Oberpfalz and Mittelfranken, the league was formed from eighteen clubs, six of them from the Amateurligas and twelve from the 2nd Amateurligas. In the first eighteen seasons, up until 1980, only the champions were promoted to the Bayernliga. This was altered in 1981, when the three Landesliga runners-up were given the opportunity to earn promotion, too, via a promotion round, below the league, the Bezirksligas were set as the fifth tier of league football, until 1988, when the Bezirksoberligas were formed. In the first year, three teams were promoted from the Bezirksligas, one from each region, from 1966, it was four clubs, the Landesliga Mitte was fed by the three Bezirksoberligen of Mittelfranken, Oberpfalz and Niederbayern from 1988 onwards. The Landesliga Mitte is the one of the three Bavarian Landesligas to have had three Bezirksoberligas as feeder leagues, the other two only have two each. With the change in the system in 1994 and 2008, the introduction of the Regionalliga. Liga, there were two automatic promotion places available to each of the Landesligen in those seasons, the Bavarian football federation carried out drastic changes to the league system at the end of the 2011-12 season. With the already decided introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern from 2012–13, below those, five Landesligas instead of the existing three were set, which would be geographically divided to limit travel and increase the number of local derbies. The clubs from the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte joined the leagues, Champions and runners-up, Promotion round to the Regionalliga, winners to the Regionalliga. Teams placed 3rd to 8th, Directly qualified to the Bayernliga, teams placed 9th to 15th, Promotion round to the Bayernliga, winners to the Bayernliga, losers to the Landesliga. Teams placed 16th or worse, Directly qualified to the Landesliga, the top-three teams in the four regional 2nd Amateurligas were each admitted to the Landesliga. The following teams have finished in the top-three in the league, the Bavarian football association requires deciders to be played when two teams are on equal points at the end of the season to determine promotion/relegation. Championship deciders were necessary in the years, For first place,1964. 1970, FC Herzogenaurach defeated ASV Neumarkt,1976, SpVgg Plattling defeated SpVgg Vohenstrauß

13.
FC Herzogenaurach
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FC Herzogenaurach is a German association football club from the city of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. Formed in 1916, the club did not begin to play competitive football till 1919 due to the circumstances of the First World War. Between the two wars, the club played on local Middle Franconian level, at times as high as the Bezirksliga. With the rise of the Nazis, the club profited from the disbanding of the workers club Freie Union. FC gained a number of players from this in 1933. After the Second World War, the played in the local A-Klasse. With a championship in the later in 1965–66, the FCs rise to the higher Bavarian amateur leagues begun, in the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte for the first time for the 1966–67 season, the club finished in a respectable eleventh spot and repeated this result the season after. In November 1967, it was offered a sponsorship by the Puma AG, which it accepted, Puma offered a similar sponsorship to the other club in town, ASV Herzogenaurach, but was beaten to this by Adidas, its long-term rival. In the Landesliga in 1968–69, the club met its local rival once more, the first season there together, ASV finished fourth while the FC came third, the clubs being separated by one point. The season after, the FC won the league and earned promotion to the Amateurliga Bayern while the ASV came third, the ASV had to wait another two seasons to do the same and win the league and promotion in 1972. The 1973–74 season became even more upsetting for the club as the ASV won the Amateurliga Bayern title while FC Herzogenaurach found itself relegated from the league, finishing 17th. Spending the next three seasons in the Landesliga, FC worked hard on a return to the Amateurliga, finishing in the each year. FC earned its return to the Amateurliga Bayern through another league championship in 1977, the club managed to survive in the league for only one season before being handed down once more. Back in the Landesliga for 1978–79, it finished top of the once more. Upon return to what was now the Amateur Oberliga Bayern, the FC earned a seventh place before suffering relegation from the league the season after in 1981. The late 1970s also saw the rise of two promising young footballers in Herzogenaurach who went to school together, günter Güttler, who played for the ASV and later joined FC Bayern Munich and Lothar Matthäus, who played for the FC and became Germanys most capped footballer. Matthäus could not play for the ASV even though it had at time the better under-19s side. Back in the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte, the FCs started to fluctuate between Landesliga and Bezirksliga, FC suffered three relegations from the Landesliga in the 1980s, in 1983,1985 and finally in 1989, on which instance both Herzogenaurach clubs left the Landesliga for good

14.
Promotion to the Oberliga Bayern
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It involved the runners-up from the three Landesligas and the team in the Oberliga placed right above the relegation ranks. The Bavarian football federation decided on changes to the league system from 2012 onwards. With the introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern from 2012–13, it placed two Bayernligas, north and south, below the new league as the new tier of the German league system. Below those, five Landesligas instead of the three were set, which would be geographically divided to limit travel and increase the number of local derbies. In 1963, alongside the establishment of the Fußball-Bundesliga, a single-division, highest league for the state of Bavaria, in turn, the bottom three teams in the Bayernliga were relegated to the Landesliga, according to their region of origin. In 1978, the Amateurliga Bayern was renamed Amateur Oberliga Bayern, in 1981, this modus changed as the Bavarian football association wanted each runners-up team in the Bavarian leagues to have a chance for promotion, too. A system was established whereby the three Landesliga runners-up and the Bayernliga team placed right above the ranks determined one more team to enter the league for the next season. A draw would establish which two teams met each other in the first round in a game, with all games to be played on neutral grounds. The winners of two games would then advance to a final to determine the team that would play in the Bayernliga next season. Exceptions existed in regards to the number of teams promoted, if the Bayernliga champion managed to win promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga and no team from that league was relegated to the Bayernliga, an extra team was promoted from the Landesliga. Also, in 1994, due to the formation of the Regionalligas, a similar situation existed in 2008, when the 3rd Liga was established. Generally, after 1994 in a most seasons more than one club was promoted, in 1994, the Amateur Oberliga Bayern was renamed Oberliga Bayern. Because of the establishment of the Regionalliga Bayern in 2012 and the expansion of the Bayernliga from one to two divisions a large number of clubs earned promotion to the league in 2012. Additionally, the number of Landesligas was expanded from three to five, the champions of the three Landesligas who earned direct promotion to the Bayernliga where, Source, The Bavarian Landesligas

15.
EHC Straubing
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The Straubing Tigers are a professional mens ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, which plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which can hold 5,800 spectators. The Tigers were promoted to the DEL in 2006, until 2012, the team could not finish better than twelfth in the league, due to having one of the leagues smallest budgets. They reached the playoff semi-finals of the 2011–12 DEL season, Official Tigers Site Official EHC Straubing Site

16.
TSV 1860 Munich
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Turn- und Sportverein München von 1860, commonly known as TSV1860 München or 1860 Munich, is a German sports club based in Munich. The clubs football team plays in the 2, Bundesliga, after relegation from the Bundesliga following the 2003–04 season. 1860 Munich was one of the members of the Bundesliga in 1963, becoming West German champions in 1966. Since 2005,1860 Munichs stadium has been the Allianz Arena,1860 Munich has a rivalry with Bayern Munich. The roots of the TSVs founding as a fitness and gymnastics association go back to a meeting held 15 July 1848 in a local pub. It was a time of revolutionary ferment due to the 1848 Revolutions, the club was formally reestablished on 17 May 1860 and after mergers with a number of other local associations in 1862 was known as Turnverein München. A football department was created on 6 March 1899 and played its first matches against other squads three years later, in 1911, the team adopted the familiar lion to their crest and in 1919 was renamed TSV München 1860. By the mid-1920s, they were playing football in the countrys upper leagues, like the Bezirksliga Bayern. Die Löwen challenged for the championship in 1931 but dropped a 2–3 decision to Hertha BSC, two years later, they made another semi-final appearance which they lost to Schalke 04 who were on their way to becoming the dominant side in German football through the 1930s and 1940s. In 1933, German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into 16 top-flight divisions known as Gauligen, TSV joined the Gauliga Bayern where they earned second-place finishes in 1934,1938 and 1939 before finally capturing a division championship in 1941. Their subsequent play-off appearance saw them second in their pool to finalist Rapid Wien. TSV returned to the national again in 1943, progressing to the quarter-finals. After World War II,1860 played in the top flight Oberliga Süd as a mid-table side and those performances were followed by poor showings in three consecutive seasons leading to relegation in 1970 to the Regionalliga Süd. It took 1860 seven years to make their way back to the first division, through a three-game play-off contest with Arminia Bielefeld, the clubs exile from the Bundesliga would last a dozen years. They were promoted to the top flight in 1994, but found themselves in danger being sent back down again. Stars like Abedi Pele, Thomas Häßler and Davor Šuker played for 1860 as their careers were winding down, becoming crowd favourites and making important contributions. Under the heavy-handed, dictatorial leadership of Wildmoser and Lorant, the combination of proven veterans and young talent helped the club avoid relegation,1860 earned a fourth-place Bundesliga finish in 2000 and were entered into the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they faced Leeds United. A 3–1 aggregate defeat, however, saw them play in the UEFA Cup that season, the club, however, was unable to build on this success and after some mediocre performances by the team, manager Lorant was fired

17.
Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern
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The Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern was the seventh tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Lower Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fifth tier. The league was disbanded at the end of the 2011-12 season, the Bezirksoberligas in Bavaria were introduced in 1988 to create a highest single-division playing level for each of the seven Bezirke. Before the introduction of the Bezirksoberligas, the Bezirksliga was the level of play below the Landesliga, the Bezirksliga Niederbayern-Ost and Niederbayern-West fed the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte as they afterwards fed the Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern. The winner of the Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern, like the winner of the Bezirksoberliga Oberpfalz, the second placed teams out of those leagues played-off for another promotion spot with the 15th placed team out of the Landesliga for the last spot there. However, in some additional promotion places were available in the Landesliga. The three bottom teams of the Bezirksoberliga were relegated to the Bezirksliga, the team just above those faced a play-off against the second placed Bezirksliga teams. With the league reform at the end of the 2011-12 season, instead, the Bezirksligas took the place of the Bezirksoberligas below the Landesligas once more. The clubs from the Bezirksoberliga joined the leagues, Champions, Promotion round to the Bayernliga, winners to the Bayernliga. Teams placed 2nd to 6th, Directly qualified to the Landesliga, Teams placed 7th to 12th, Three additional Landesliga places to be determined in a play-off round with the Bezirksliga champions, losers enter Bezirksliga. Teams placed 13th to 16th, Directly relegated to Bezirksliga, the following teams have won or finished runners-up in the league, Promoted teams in bold. + Teams finished on equal points, decider needed to determine final position,1 In 1995, the SV Hutthurm and TSV Velden were promoted instead of the champions SV Schalding–Heining, the later having declined promotion

18.
Under 19 Bayernliga
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The Under 19 Bayernliga is the second tier of under 19 youth football in Bavaria, set below the Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest. Until 1996, the league was the highest tier of under 19 football, containing the teams of such clubs as FC Bayern Munich. A Bavarian championship was played from 1946 onwards, only in 1952 and 1953 was it not held, until 1971, the Bavarian champions advanced to the Southern German under 19 championship. This competition was disbanded after 1971 in light of the interception of a German championship from 1969 onwards, the under 19 team of the 1. FC Nuremberg started a series from 1967 onwards, reaching the Bavarian final every year until 1994,28 times in a row. Only in 1995 did Viktoria Aschaffenburg finish above the 1, the Bayernliga was established in 1974, operating as two regional divisions, a northern and a southern one, the A-Jugend Bayernliga Nord and the A-Jugend Bayernliga Süd. The winner of each division would advance to the Bavarian championship final. The winner of game, the Bavarian champions, then advanced to the German under 19 championship. In 1996, the Under 19 Regionalliga South was established, relegating the two Bayernligas to second division status, from now on, the best Bavarian clubs would play in the Regionalliga and the Bayernliga champions played for promotion to this league. Since 2001, the final between the two league winners was now played in a home-and-away format, should each team win a game the goals scored were not taken into consideration, instead, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner. In 2003, the Under 19 Regionalliga South and the Under 19 Regionalliga Southwest merged to form the Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest and this changed nothing in the status of the Bayernligas as second divisions. In the 2007–08 season, the 1, FC Nuremberg remained unbeaten throughout its 26 league games but then lost in the finals to Unterhaching. From the 2008–09 season, the Bayernliga now operates as a single division, below this league, two Landesligas, north and south, were slotted in above the seven Bezirksoberligas who previously formed the tier below. A final to determine the Bavarian champions will not be any more. In 2008, the Bavarian football association had 2,013 registered under 19 teams, source, Alle A–Junioren–Meister official DFB website, List of all champions, accessed,28 November 2008 The Under 19 Southern German championship was intercepted in 1946 and disbanded in 1973. Bavarian clubs have won the competition 11 times, originally, the competition was designed for the league runners–up, this was latter changed and nowadays, the 21 regional cup winners qualify for it. Since 2001, a Bavarian Cup competition for the under 19 is played

19.
Bavarian football league system
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The Bavarian football league system of the Bavarian Football Association ranks within the German football league system. Its highest division, the Regionalliga Bayern, is currently the fourth tier of German football, the lowest league in Bavaria is currently the C-Klasse, which is the 12th tier of German football. The top-tiers of the system as operated from 2014–15 onwards. League strengths are nominal and may vary from season to season, in 1988, upon the suggestion of the 1. FC Sonthofen in 1986, the Bezirksoberligas were introduced in Bavaria, the reason for this was the integration of all reserve teams into the normal competition. In the Bezirke who did not follow suit, like Schwaben, the Bavarian football federation carried out drastic changes to the league system at the end of the 2011–12 season. With the introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern from 2012–13, it placed two Bayernligas below the Regionalliga, below those, five Landesligas instead of the existing three were set, which were geographically divided to limit travel and increase the number of local derbies. This is a table of the progression of the Bavarian league system by tier since 1963, ‡ Since 1998 the B-, until 2009, the seven Bezirke in Bavaria each played their own cup competition which in turn functioned as qualifier to the German Cup. Starting in 1998 these seven cup-winners advanced to the Bavarian Cup, the two finalists of this competition then advanced to the German Cup. Since 2009, the cup competitions were dissolved and qualifying competitions established instead for the lower amateur leagues. The teams in the divisions of Bavarian football entered the enlarged Bavarian Cup directly. FC Nuremberg Amateure became the first reserve team to enter the Bayernliga, regulations were slowly lowered and, in 1980, reserve teams of Landesliga clubs were permitted to enter the league pyramid, too. However, should a club out of the Landesliga, its reserve side would have to return to reserve football. With the introduction of the Bezirksoberliga in 1988, reserve teams from this league were permitted to enter regular league football, some years later, this right was also awarded to Bezirksliga clubs. Bavaria was however slow to allow all reserve sides to enter the league system, eventually, this hurdle was dropped too, but the final decision was awarded to the individual Bezirke. Up to the fourth-lowest level, senior and reserve team can play at the same level, in between, in 2008, reserve sides lost their right to compete in the cup competitions. Apart from the leagues, the Bavarian FA also operates league systems of womens. In the womens league system, the Bayernliga, the tier of the German league system, is set as the highest state league

20.
Bezirksoberligen Bayern
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The seven Bezirksoberligas Bayern were the third highest level of the Bavarian football league system, below the Bayernliga and the Landesliga Bayern from 1988 to 2012. They were the seventh tier of the German football league system, until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of the league system, the seven Bezirksoberligas were introduced in 1988 to create a highest single-division playing level for each of the seven Bezirke. Before that the Bezirksligas were located right below the Landesliga in the pyramid and they were created upon suggestion of the 1. However, it took this club till 1998 to gain promotion to the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben, the winners of the seven Bezirksoberligas are automatically promoted to their respective Landesliga. The second-placed teams face a series of matches to determine one or two more promotion spots. Teams relegated from the Bezirksoberliga drop into the Bezirksliga of which there are two, except Oberbayern where there are three. Only one club has managed to win a Bezirksoberliga four times, the German term Bezirksoberliga is best translated as County Premier League. The Bezirke are political and administrative units similar to a county in size, with the league reform at the end of the 2011-12 season, which includes an expansion of the number of Landesligas from three to five, the Bezirksoberligas were disbanded. Instead, the Bezirksligas took the place of the Bezirksoberligas below the Landesligas once more, the clubs from the Bezirksoberligas joined the following leagues, Champions, Promotion round to the Bayernliga, winners to the Bayernliga, losers to the Landesliga. Teams placed 2nd to 6th, Directly qualified to the Landesliga, teams placed 7th or worse, Between two and six additional Landesliga places, according to the size of the Bezirk, to be determined in a play-off round with the Bezirksliga champions. Non-qualified teams to remain at this tier

21.
Regionalliga
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The Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the tier of the system in 1994. Upon introduction of a new nationwide 3, liga in 2008, it was demoted to the fourth level of the pyramid. From the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 until the formation of the 2, bundesligas, Süd and Nord became the second tier of German Football and the Regionalligas ceased existing for the next 20 years. In 1994, the Regionalligas were re-introduced, this time as the tier of German Football. There were initially four Regionalligas, Regionalliga Süd, Regionalliga West/Südwest, Regionalliga Nord, Regionalliga Nordost, Between 1994 and 2000, Bundesliga was regulated without much continuity. It was a rule, as becoming champion of a division did not automatically mean promotion for that team. The champions of the South and West/Southwest divisions were promoted, however. The champions of the North and Northeast divisions had a play-off to decide who would get the promotion spot. This rule was justified because there are clubs in the southern part of Germany than the north. This led to clubs in the Southern division being geographically further north than some northern clubs. The champions and the runners-up of both divisions were promoted to the 2, in 2008, the Regionalliga was demoted to become the fourth tier of football in Germany after the introduction of a new nationwide 3. This may lead to teams assigned to an other than their geographical one. An example for this is BV Cloppenburg, who was assigned to the Western division for the 2008–09 season despite being located in Niedersachsen, in October 2010, yet another reform of the Regionalligas was decided upon. The number of leagues were now to be expanded to five, with the defunct Regionalliga Nordost to be reestablished and a Regionalliga Bayern to be established. Also, the Regionalliga West would lose the clubs from the south west to a new league, formed out of those clubs, the new system is due to come into operation in the 2012–13 season. It was also decided to limit the number of teams per Regionalliga to seven

22.
3. Liga
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Liga, is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2, Bundesliga and the semi-professional Regionalliga, which became the fourth division and initially consisted of three groups of 18 clubs playing separately. Liga is the highest division that a football clubs reserve team can play in, on 8 September 2006, the German Football Association, the DFB, announced the formation of the 3. It was originally anticipated that the name would be 3. Bundesliga, but the DFB chose 3, Liga instead, reflecting the fact that the league will be directly administered by the DFB, not by the German Football League DFL who runs both Bundesliga and 2. The first match of the 3, Liga was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden at the Steigerwaldstadion in Erfurt. Dynamo Dresden won the match 1–0, with Halil Savran scoring the goal in the closing stages of the first half. From its foundation in 2008 to 2013 the league had been operating on a financial loss, the 2013–14 season saw the league make a profit for the first time, being €4.9 million in the plus. This makes it the third-most economically successful professional league in all German sports, the teams which are not reserve teams of Bundesliga teams among the 20 teams in the league compete for promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, while the three teams are relegated to one of the five Regionalligen, Regionalliga Nord, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga West, Regionalliga Südwest. If, however, a team is playing in the 3. Liga and the respective first team is relegated to the 3, Liga, the reserve team will be relegated to the Regionalliga regardless of its league position. At the end of the 2007–08 season, the two best non-reserve teams from each of the two divisions of the Regionalliga were promoted to the 2, the teams ranked third to tenth in both Regionalliga entered the new 3. Liga, joining the four teams relegated from the 2, Bundesliga to form the new 20-team league. Teams finishing 11th or lower in their Regionalliga remained where they were, on 18 May 2008, at the end of the 2007–082. Bundesliga season, four clubs were relegated from the 2, Bundesliga and became charter members of the 3. Liga, Kickers Offenbach, FC Erzgebirge Aue, SC Paderborn 07, on 31 May 2008, at the end of the 2007–08 Regionalliga seasons, clubs placing third through tenth in the Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga Süd also qualified for the new 3

23.
2. Bundesliga
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Bundesliga is the second division of professional football in Germany. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3, liga in the German football league system. Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition, a total of 125 clubs have competed in the 2. The decision to establish the league as the level of football in West Germany was taken in May 1973. The league started operating in August 1974, then two divisions of 20 clubs. It was reduced to a division in 1981. From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from former East Germany started participating in the league and it returned to a single division format again at the end of that season and has had 18 clubs as its strength since 1994. Bundesliga are directly promoted to the Bundesliga, while a third promoted club has been determined through play-offs from 1974 to 1991, between 1991 and 2008 the third-placed club in the league was directly promoted. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the division which has been, from 1974 to 1994 the Oberliga, from 1994 to 2008 the Regionalliga. The number of relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years, since 2008 two clubs are directly relegated while the third-last team has the opportunity to defend its league place in play-offs against the third placed team of the 3. FC Nürnberg holds the number of championships in the league with four. The club also holds the record for number of promotions from the 2, for the 2015–16 season, an average of 19,176 spectators watched 2. Bundesliga the worlds most-watched secondary football league, the decision to establish the 2. Bundesliga as a professional league below the Bundesliga was made at the annual convention of the German Football Association. The league replaced the five Regionalligas that were at this level from 1963 to 1974, the qualified teams were established through a ranking that took the last five seasons of the Regionalliga into account. Bundesliga was split into a northern and a division with 20 clubs each. Each division had its champion directly promoted to the Bundesliga while the two runners-up would contest a two-leg play-off to determine the promoted team. The first-ever game of the league was played on Friday,2 August 1974 between 1, FC Saarbrücken and SV Darmstadt 98 and ended in a 1–0 win for Saarbrücken, with Nikolaus Semlitsch scoring the first-ever goal of the new league

24.
Regionalliga Bayern
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The Regionalliga Bayern, is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. The league was established at the end of the 2011–12 season, the German league system, having gone through its last adjustment in 2008, when the 3. Liga was established and the number of Regionalligas increased from two to three, required another adjustment in 2011, many clubs also struggled to cope with the 400-pages long license application, having to rely on volunteers rather than being able draw on permanent staff. In a special conference of the German Football Association, the DFB, for this purpose, the paper also demanded the reestablishment of the German amateur football championship as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs who did not want to turn professional. On 16 December 2011, the BFV introduced the leagues logo, in March 2012 the BFV announced that the league champions, apart from having the opportunity to compete in the promotion round to the 3. Liga, would qualify directly for the first round of the German Cup. Due to the ban of reserve teams in the German Cup this spot would be handed to the best placed first team should the champions be a reserve side. With the deadline for the applications for the new league set for 1 April 2012,32 clubs had applied for the new league. Of those, one came from the 3, Liga, six from the Regionalliga, eight from the Landesliga and two from leagues outside of Bavaria. Of the 18 Bayernliga clubs,15 applied for a licence, with only TSV Gersthofen, TSV Aindling, of the Landesliga clubs, eight applied for a licence. The BFV planned to complete the procedure by 20 April 2012 and notify all clubs of the outcome by that date. On 20 April 2012 the FSV Erlangen-Bruck opted to withdraw its Regionalliga application because of ongoing financial issues, all Bayernliga and Regionalliga clubs had their licence applications approved by 27 April 2012 while the Landesliga clubs had to wait another week before being notified of a decision. The champions and runners-up of the league, Promoted teams in bold, alexander Deptalla of Bamberg became the first ever goal scorer in the league. The league champions in turn qualified for the round to the 3. Liga, in which it met the runners-up of the Regionalliga Südwest, SV Elversberg, and lost. FC Bayern Munich II won the title in the second season of the league but was, like the reserve of 1860 Munich the year before. The FV Illertissen was, for the consecutive season the best non reserve side in the league

25.
Bayernliga
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The Bayernliga is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the third tier. From the 2012-13 season onwards, the league has been divided once more into a northern, the league sits directly under the Regionalliga Bayern and above the Landesligas, which were expanded in number from three to five at the end of the 2011-12 season. The league run then in parallel with the Landesligas of Hessen, Württemberg, the year after, the leagues went to thirteen teams each. In 1948, the league was reunited in one group of sixteen teams with the top-two clubs gaining promotion, the 1949–50 season was run on fourteen clubs with the top-five clubs gaining promotion to the new 2. The league was renamed Amateurliga Bayern, a name it would carry until 1978 and it consisted of sixteen clubs in its first season, then went to eighteen and later nineteen. In 1953, the split into a northern and a southern group again. Being the largest of the southern German federations, Bavaria felt disadvantaged by the fact that only its champion was permitted to take part in the promotion rounds. The number of teams in the two leagues kept fluctuating and sometimes clubs from central Bavaria were moved between divisions to balance out the strength, in those years up to 1963, the leagues below the Bayernliga were the 2. Amateurligas, which there was supposed to be seven of, according to the number of Bezirke in Bavaria, however, some, like Oberbayern, split their 2nd Amateurliga in more than one division. In 1963, with the introduction of the Bundesliga, the Oberliga Süd, the Amateurliga Bayern was reunited and now came under the Regionalliga Süd, the new second tier of the league system in the south. The Amateurliga retained its status as a tier three league, seven clubs from the northern and southern division each plus four from the 2nd Oberliga made up the newly reunited league in 1963. The league champion still had to compete for promotion with the winners of the other southern German amateur leagues while the three teams were relegated. For the Bayernliga, this meant little change, the winner still had to play-off for promotion to the new league. The year 1978 saw a reformation of the highest Amateurligas in Germany, their number was halved from sixteen to eight, the Amateurligas were also renamed Amateur-Oberligas, which was generally shortened to AOL or, more commonly, just Oberliga. In the south, this meant the Bayernliga now run parallel to the Amateur-Oberligas of Hessen, Baden-Württemberg, direct promotion for the southern champions only lasted two seasons however, 1978–79 and 1979–80. Bundesliga was united to one division, making it necessary for the Oberliga champions to have a promotion round again

26.
Promotion and relegation
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In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. In some leagues, playoffs or qualifying rounds are used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, the number of teams exchanged between the divisions is almost always identical. Such variations will almost inevitably cause an effect through the lower divisions. Even in the absence of such circumstances, the pyramid-like nature of most European football league systems can still create knock-on effects at the regional level. The system is said to be the characteristic of the European form of professional sports league organization. Promotion and relegation have the effect of allowing the maintenance of a hierarchy of leagues and divisions and they also maintain the importance of games played by many low-ranked teams near the end of the season, which may be at risk of relegation. In contrast, a low-ranked US or Canadian teams final games serve little purpose, although not intrinsic to the system, problems can occur due to the differing monetary payouts and revenue-generating potential that different divisions provide to their clubs. For example, financial hardship has sometimes occurred in leagues where clubs do not reduce their wage bill once relegated, some leagues offer parachute payments to its relegated teams for the following year. The payouts are higher than the money received by some non-relegated teams and are designed to soften the financial hit that clubs take whilst dropping out of the Premier League. However, in many cases these parachute payments just serve to inflate the costs of competing for promotion among the lower division clubs as newly relegated teams retain a financial advantage. If these are not satisfied, a team may be promoted in their place. While the primary purpose of the system is to maintain competitive balance. On several occasions, the Italian Football Federation has relegated clubs found to have involved in match-fixing. This occurred most recently in 2006, when the initial champions Juventus were relegated to Serie B. An exception is the proposed UEFA Nations League, which will feature promotion and relegation across four levels, in tennis, the Davis Cup has promotion and relegation where each group uses a knockout tournament format in which first-round losers play off to avoid relegation. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, teams are not promoted or relegated. The USL set up two leagues, now known as the United Soccer League and the Premier Development League, although the system is now in place, it is not compulsory and is rarely used

27.
SpVgg Bayreuth
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SpVgg Bayreuth is a German football club based in Bayreuth, Bavaria. Apart from coming within two games of earning promotion to the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1979, the club reached the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal twice. A handful of club members reformed a rump side called FSV Bayreuth to carry on the activities of the original association and this team was made up largely of soldiers stationed locally, which resulted in a constantly changing lineup as they were transferred in and out of the area. The old club was resurrected after World War II. The club initially stood in the shadow of two rivals, FC Bayreuth and VfB Bayreuth, with the later taking out the Amateurliga Nordbayern title in 1956. SpVgg had earned promotion to this league in 1954, having won the 2nd Amateurliga Oberfranken-West title that year, the club achieved good results in the Bayernliga and managed to win its division in 1959. The team then went on to southern champions Schwaben Augsburg in the finals for the Bavarian title. The club spent three seasons in the tier of Southern German football, achieving a remarkable fifth place in its first year. The second season was a struggle against relegation and, in the third and last one, a fourth place in the last season before the league reform in 1963 saw the club qualify for the new single-division Amateurliga Bayern from 1963. After the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Bayreuth played as a third division team until 1969, another Amateurliga championship meant promotion to the second tier once more, now the Regionalliga Süd. It proved a short stay and SpVgg was narrowly relegated, losing a decider to ESV Ingolstadt 5–2 after finishing on equal points. Back in the Bayernliga, the club won an undisputed championship, the team became a top-side in the Oberliga but took until 1985 to take out the league title again and returmn to the second division. Although relegated to Amateur Oberliga Bayern in 1988 and 1989, the team was spared further demotion when clubs that had finished ahead of them were denied due to their financial problems. Bayreuth could not evade relegation after a third consecutive poor finish in 1990, a strong campaign returned the side to the Regionalliga Süd for 2005–06. The club was denied a license for the Regionalliga in the 2006/07 season, the club won the Bayernliga title for a seventh time, building up a convincing margin to the second placed team, and fulfilling the on-the-field qualification to the Regionalliga. On 11 June 2008, the club was refused a licence for this league and has to remain in the Bayernliga, the clubs financial trouble however continued, having to declare insolvency on 22 October 2008, despite sitting second in the league. In the 2010–11 Bayernliga season, the club struggled against relegation. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club qualified directly for the newly expanded Bayernliga after finishing fourth in the Landesliga, two seasons later the club won the league and earned promotion to the Regionalliga Bayern

28.
FC Augsburg
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Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V. commonly known as FC Augsburg or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, the team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. With over 12,200 members, it is the largest football club in Swabian Bavaria, FC Augsburg, which has long fluctuated between the second and third division, experienced a difficult time in the early 2000s, suffering relegation to the fourth division for two seasons. FCA recovered from this, returning to football in 2006. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Augsburg were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time, since 2009, FC Augsburgs stadium has been the WWK ARENA. A first serious meeting between the two sides was held in 1964, both clubs having dropped out of football by then. The leadership of the multi-sports club Schwaben was completely behind a merger but the football department was not. In 1968, with BCA struggling in the division after relegation from professional football the year before and Schwaben soon to follow. In April 1969, a meeting between the two club bosses brought the decision to merge the clubs and name the new side FC Augsburg. FCA was to be a football only with no other sports department. The then-mayor of Augsburg, Hans Breuer, was one of the forces behind the move. In June,256 of 265 of BCAs members present voted for the merger while, shortly after,75 percent of Schwabens members approved the motion, too. Schwaben, however, opted for the small club was to remain independent with only its football department merging into the new club. But even this move was not universally popular within the club, with former members forming a new football club, Eintracht Augsburg. For this reason, FCA is generally not considered to carry on the traditions of TSV Schwaben, a year later, the footballers of Eintracht rejoined Schwaben but, since then, have always remained an amateur club. It took the new department until 1981 to regain its third-division status. The new FCA played its first game on 30 July 1969, FC Nürnberg in Augsburg in front of 13,000, losing 0–3 in extra time. After the formation of the club in 1969, the side was to spend most of its time in tier-two, the new side, despite now concentrating Augsburgs football forces, was no instant success

29.
SSV Jahn Regensburg
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Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V. commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The football department was created in 1907, the football department separated in 2000 and is called SSV Jahn Regensburg. SSV Jahn play their games at Continental Arena since 2015. The club colours are red and white, the teamss most common nicknames Rothosen, Jahn currently plays in the 3. Liga, the German third division, having been promoted from the Regionalliga Bayern in season 2015–16 and it returned in 1937 and their best performances were consecutive third place finishes in 1938 and 1939 after which they languished as an uncompetitive mid-to-lower table side. The club spent most of the period between the end of World War II and the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 as a yo-yo team bouncing up, Regensburg played the early 1960s in the third division before making their way back to the Regionalliga Süd. By the mid 1970s the team began to falter and by the end of the decade had become a third and fourth division side, in 2000 the football team left to become an independent club and were joined by players from SG Post/Süd Regensburg in 2002. Regensburg has recovered to some degree and has played in the Regionalliga Süd since the turn of the millennium with a season in the 2. However, the club faced financial difficulties and narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2005, after sinking to the fourth division Oberliga Bayern in 2005–06 Jahn achieved first place in the following season and were promoted again to the Regionalliga Süd. Due to a reorganisation of the leagues, Jahn had to finish in place or higher in order to stay in the third division. Jahn struggled to do so but finished ninth in the end, the club played its first two seasons in the 3. Liga close to the zone but then improved to the point that it came third in 2011–12. Draws in 1–1 at Regensburg and in 2–2 at Karlsruhe meant Jahns return to level after eight years according to away goal rule. The Jahn finished last in the 2, Bundesliga in 2012–13 and was relegated back to the 3. In 2014–15 they also finished last in the 3, liga and were relegated back to the Regionalliga. In the following season, the made the first place in the Regionalliga Bayern, the club defeated Wolfsburg II with 2–1 on aggregate and immediately returned to third level for the 2015–16 season. As of 4 February 2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality

30.
SpVgg Unterhaching
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Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The football team plays in the Bavarian Regional League, the German fourth division. Originally part of the gymnastics and sports club TSV Hachinger, SpVgg Unterhaching was established as an independent football club on 1 January 1925 and their first promotion to a higher division came in 1931 and they went on to be promoted to the A-Klasse a year later. Unterhachings football team was only a local amateur team with no significant successes until a climb through league ranks that began in 1976 with promotion from B-Klasse to A-Klasse play. A first-place finished earned the club promotion to the Bezirksliga in 1977. Continued good play put the team into the fourth-division Landesliga Bayern-Süd in 1979 and then the Oberliga Bayern, Unterhaching finished first there in 1983 to earn an appearance in the playoff round for the Second Bundesliga, but failed to advance. They suffered a fate in 1988 when they next appeared in the promotion round. The club finally emerged from the Oberliga to play in the 2, Bundesliga in 1989, but were quickly relegated after a 20th-place finish. Promoted a second time in 1992, they were again sent down after a marginally better 18th-place result. Unterhaching next appeared in the division in 1995 after a first-place finish in the new Regionalliga Süd. With their return to the 2, Bundesliga in the 1995–96 season the club would begin a period that would see them earn their best ever results. They finished 4th that season, then slipped to 6th and 11th-place results in their two campaigns before securing promotion to the top-flight Bundesliga after a 2nd-place finish in 1999 season. Their first Bundesliga win came in just their second match of the season, while struggling in away matches, Unterhaching remained undefeated at home in nine games before losing 0,2 to their stronger neighbours, Bayern Munich. Prior to this loss, they had earned wins at home in matches against highly favoured teams like VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund and they earned their first away win in the Bundesliga by beating VfB Stuttgart 2,0 once again. On the final matchday of the season, visiting Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw in Unterhaching to secure their first national title, things took a sinister turn for Leverkusen when Michael Ballack scored an own goal that put home side ahead in the 20th minute. Their title hopes ended when Haching midfielder Markus Oberleitner made the score 2,0 in the 72nd minute, meanwhile, Bayern Munich beat Werder Bremen 3,1 at home and were able to overtake Leverkusen on goal difference to snatch away the title. With a 10th-place result, Unterhaching finished ahead of long-established sides Borussia Dortmund and they ended the season with the leagues fifth best home record with 10 wins and 5 draws in 17 matches having lost only to Bayern Munich and 1. Breitenreiter and Rraklli scored 13 Bundesliga goals between them that season, however, the start of the 2000–01 season was a nightmare for Unterhaching as they would win only one and draw two of their first eight matches

31.
ESV Ingolstadt
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The ESV Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, formed on 15 February 1919. Until 2004, the club operated a department but after a merger with local rival MTV Ingolstadt to form FC Ingolstadt 04 the footballers left for the new club. The club has over 1,600 members in 21 sports departments, the club is associated with the German railways, as evident by the term railway sports club in its name, and is a member of the Association of German railway sports clubs, the VDES. The earliest origins of the lay in 1912, with the Sängerverein Ringsee. Upon the end of the First World War, a number of clubs and associations were formed in Ingolstadt. As far as sport, and therefore football is concerned, the ESVs foundation date results from the formation of the FC Viktoria Ingolstadt in 1919, another sports club, the VfR Ingolstadt, was formed in 1921. These two clubs merged in 1925 to form the VfB Ingolstadt-Ringsee and it is also this club who had by far the most success on the football field in the pre-Second World War years. In 1946, the TSV Ingolstadt-Ringsee and VfB Ingolstadt-Ringsee merged to form VfL Ingolstadt-Ringsee, in 1951, this club was renamed ESV Ingolstadt Ringsee but until 1953, the E in the club name stood for Erster. In 1953, this was changed to Eisenbahner to reflect that the club was now affiliated with the German railways Deutsche Bahn. The club first appears on the map of German league football in 1930, after two seasons in this league fighting relegation, the team dropped back into the second tier in 1932. A return to first division football was made in 1936, when it won promotion to what was now the Gauliga Bayern, again, the club was only good for two seasons and then disappeared from this level. It made one more return in 1943, now as KSG Ingolstadt, the VfB Ingolstadt-Ringsee entered the tier-two Landesliga Bayern in 1945, now independent again from the MTV. The club spent the season as an upper table side with no real ambition for promotion to the Oberliga Süd. The Landesliga Bayern returned to single-division format in 1948 and became a league in 1950 with the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd. In 1951, it was renamed Amateurliga Bayern and in 1953 it split into two groups again. In 1953–54, ESV came second in the league, on points with SpVgg Weiden, making a decider necessary. The season after, ESV finished second to FC Penzberg and earned the right to play Kickers Würzburg for the right to enter the German amateur football championship, in 1956–57, the club finished third and from there on declined further, until a last-place finish in 1960 brought relegation. ESV won its division of the 2nd Amateurliga Oberbayern, together with the Upper Bavaria championship, back in its old league, the club took out a championship there, too, and earned promotion to the 2nd Oberliga Süd

32.
SpVgg SV Weiden
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SpVgg SV Weiden, formerly just SpVgg Weiden, is a German association football club from the city of Weiden, Bavaria. Playing in the tier-four Regionalliga Süd in 2010–11, the club had to declare insolvency after being more than Euro 1 million in debt. Unable to raise funds to continue competing in the league, Weiden declared on 30 November 2010 that it would withdraw its Regionalliga team. All games for the club in the 2010–11 season were declared void, the side originated with the 1912 establishment of a football department in the gymnastics club Turnerbund Weiden. The footballers became independent on 19 January 1924 and enjoyed early success in capturing local titles in 1924 and 1931. Between 1929 and 1934 they were united with Fußball Club Windischeschenbach to play as SpVgg Weiden-Windischeschenbach, in 1934, the team qualified to play in the Gauliga Bayern, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. This club remained in the top flight until the end of World War II, in between, the club played in the Amateurliga Bayern, generally as a top side with good results. The club failed to qualify for the new single-division Amateurliga Bayern and had to enter the new tier-four Landesliga Bayern-Mitte instead and it took out the league title there and advanced to the tier-two Regionalliga Süd in its first season back in the Amateurliga. Weiden only managed one season in the Regionalliga and was back in the Amateurliga in 1966 and it remained a strong side there, taking out second places in 1971 and 1972 but, in 1975, it found itself relegated. From 1977 to 1981, the fell as far as the tier-five Bezirksliga but then returned to the Landesliga and, from there. From the mid-80s on into the mid-90s the club played as a third side and, following league re-structuring. Early in the 90s the team made first round appearances in German Cup play, after faltering briefly Weiden returned to Oberliga play on the strength of a Landesliga Bayern-Mitte title in 2006. In the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, the club finished eight in this league in both years, the 2008–09 season proved a very successful one for the club, winning the league and earning promotion to the Regionalliga Süd, a league it hasnt played in since 1966. It only lasted for two seasons at this level, declaring insolvency and thererby being automatically relegated and its record expunct. The club reformed as SpVgg Weiden 2010 and continued to field a team in the Landesliga in 2010–11, with the team being elevated to first team status. The club however fulfilled the qualifying norms of the Bavarian Football Association to continue on in the tier below, at the end of the 2011–12 season the club qualified directly for the newly expanded Landesliga after finishing third in the Bezirksoberliga. Back in the Bayernliga the club finished fifth in 2013–14, SpVgg Weiden has historically fielded a strong youth program. In 2010, its C-Junior team featured in the Las Vegas Mayors Cup International Soccer Tournament, SpVgg Weiden plays in the Stadion am Wasserwerk, opened in 1928

33.
TSV 1860 Munich II
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The TSV1860 Munich II is the reserve team of German football club TSV1860 München, from the city of Munich, Bavaria. Until 2005, the team played under the name of TSV1860 München Amateure, in the 2014–15 season, the team plays in the tier-four Regionalliga Bayern. Within the club, it operates as a side, designated to develop players from the youth to the first-team stage. The Amateurliga Südbayern was then one of two leagues at this level in Bavaria, covering the southern half of the state while the Amateurliga Nordbayern existed in parallel in the north. TSV1860 München Amateure, as the team was known as, was the third reserve side to reach this level in Bavaria. FC Nuremberg II and FC Bayern Munich II, the team finished an excellent second in its first year in the third division, five points behind TSV Schwaben Augsburg. The following season, 1960–61, the team won its league, 1860s amateur side was however ineligible for promotion as reserve teams could not rise above third division level. The team also declined participation in the Bavarian championship finals against northern champions 1, FC Haßfurt as nine players had left the side already to join other clubs. With this loss, the team was uncompetitive the following season, finishing fourteenth in the league, in its first season in the Landesliga,1860 narrowly avoided relegation to the Bezirksliga, finishing twelfth in the league. It turned fortunes around the season, coming second behind SpVgg Kaufbeuren. Another runners-up finish followed in 1967, this time to FC Bayern Munich II, the team finished in mid-field in the following years but suffered another relegation in 1971, now to the tier-five Bezirksliga. The teams decline went in line with the clubs first teams relegation from the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1970,1860 Amateure returned to the Landesliga in 1973 and earned another runners-up finish in its first year back. In 1976, the once more was relegated to the Bezirksliga. The team once more returned from the Bezirksliga in 1980 and finished as runners-up in the Landesliga in 1981-82. Since 1981, the Landesliga runners-up were entitled to participate in a Bayernliga promotion round, what happened was that TSV1860 had its 2nd Bundesliga licence revoked and was forcefully relegated to the tier-three Amateur Oberliga Bayern, the Bayernliga. The team started its road to recovery when it won the tier-six Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Süd in 1990, the team missed out on another promotion the following year, when it came equal second in the Bezirksoberliga but lost a decider to FC Miesbach. It took until 1995 for the side to return for another attempt at promotion, back in the Landesliga, the team won another promotion on first try, winning the league and moving up to the Bayernliga for the first time since 1963. There,1860 won its promotion in four years, taking out another league title

34.
1. FC Schweinfurt 05
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FC Schweinfurt 05 is a German association football club that plays in Schweinfurt, Bavaria. The club was founded on 5 May 1905 and played in the local leagues, the team attempted a merger with Turngemeinde Schweinfurt von 1848 which lasted from 1928 to 1930 before the two groups parted ways again and the football division became 1. While the club did not reap the benefits from the brief union. Membership grew significantly and a number of new departments were formed within the organization. Schweinfurt finally gained first class status with its entry into the Bezirksliga Bayern in 1931, the club had a couple of successful seasons in the Gauliga era, winning the Gauliga Bayern in 1939 and 1942 and qualifying for the German championship round. One year later it found itself playing in the second tier Regionalliga Süd, in 1966 the club made it to the Bundesliga advancement games but was unable to ascend to the top tier. With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974, Schweinfurt qualified despite only finishing 15th in the last Regionalliga season, Schweinfurt became an elevator club ascending and descending between tiers III and IV, with just a pair of brief 2. A re-structured club has enjoyed some success, working its way back into the Oberliga Bayern. The club struggled from the start in its 2007–08 Oberliga Bayern season, in the end, a 16th place meant they had to go through a promotion round with the third-placed Landesliga teams. After a convincing first round win over DJK Vilzing, the match was lost to TSV Rain am Lech. This result meant, the FCS would have had to return to the Landesliga for next season, but the refusal of a Regionalliga licence for the Sportfreunde Siegen, FC Eintracht Bamberg in their stead meant, an additional Bayernliga spot was available, which went to the FCS. FCS was relegated again to the Landesliga in 2009 but returned to the Bayernliga immediately the following year, in this round the club missed out on promotion to FC Augsburg II after a 3–0 loss at home in extra time, first having drawn the away leg nil all. In the 2012–13 season the club took out the championship in the division of the Bayernliga. Schweinfurt successfully defended its league place in the round and will continue to play in the league in 2014–15. As of 20 August 2015 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3, liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier, all leagues from the Bezirksligas onward were elevated one tier. The club made a appearance in 1936, when it lost 3–2 to FC Schalke 04

35.
BC Augsburg
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BC Augsburg was a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Club Allemannia Augsburg in 1907 and played as Ballspiel-Club Augsburg from 1921 to 1969, facing imminent financial collapse, BC merged with the football side of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in July 1969 to form FC Augsburg. The union was short-lived and Schwaben re-established its own football department the following year, FCA remains active today and carries on the tradition of the original side. On 11 May 1909, BC joined the gymnastics club Turnverein 1871 Oberhausen as that associations football department, Oberhausen merged with Turnverein Augsburg II to create Turn- und Sportverein 1871 Augsburg with the footballers playing as Ballspielclub im TSV1847. A year later the footballers went their own way as a separate club, in the 1930s the club shared unions with Sportverein Augsburg and Turn- und Sportverein Stadtbach. SV was established in 1888 as Turnverein Augsburg-Kriegshaber, a football department was formed within that club in 1916, became independent in 1924, and joined BC in 1935. TSV was formed in 1896 as Turnverein Stadtbach and its footballers went their own way as Fußball-Club Stadtbach in August 1919, in 1930 they were renamed VfL Teutonia Augsburg and on 15 June 1932 the association was joined by the athletics department of BC Augsburg. Two years later VfL rejoined its parent club to create TSV1896 Stadtbach, German football was reorganized in 1933 under the Third Reich into 16 top-flight divisions known as Gauligen. BC finished second in second division that following year and beat FC Memmingen 3,2 in a promotion playoff to win its way into the Gauliga Bayern for the 1934–35 season. Over the next seasons they played there as a lower to mid-table side with their best results coming as second places finishes in 1940 and 1943. During this period the team made two appearances in play for the Tschammer-Pokal, predecessor of todays DFB-Pokal, and were put out in the going on both occasions. World War II caused player shortages and forced play to more local in character. In 1943 the Gauliga Bayern became the Gauliga Südbayern and BC joined Post-SG Augsburg to form the wartime side Kriegspielgeminde Augsburg and this club earned another second place result in 1943–44 before conflict overtook the area and play ended nearly half way into the 1944–45 season. Following the war occupying Allied authorities order the dissolution of most organizations in the country, including sports, BC was remade, but the former memberships of SV and TV left to form TSV Kriegshaber in 1946. BC Augsburg took up play in the first division Oberliga Süd in 1945, the bounced back with a Landesliga Bayern title in 1948 and then beat 1. FC Bamberg in promotion round play, the Oberliga Süddeutschland became the Oberliga Süd in 1950, and BC spent 10 of the next 13 seasons in top flight play there, but struggled as a lower table side. After the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, Germanys first national professional circuit, in 1965, BC captured the division title in the Amateurliga Bayern and advanced to the semi finals of the national amateur championship. While the FC Augsburg holds up the traditions of the BCA, there is another club claiming some of the heritage of the club, the BC Augsburg-Oberhausen

36.
TBVfL Neustadt-Wildenheid
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The TBVfL Neustadt-Wildenheid is a German association football club from the city of Neustadt bei Coburg, Bavaria. The club is a merger of TBV Wildenheid and VfL07 Neustadt, the latter achieved notability by playing in the 2nd Oberliga Süd from 1954 to 1963. The club should not be mistaken with the VfL Neustadt/Weinstraße, a club from Rhineland-Palatinate, the VfL Neustadt was formed in 1907. The club surfaced as a force in Bavarian football after the Second World War and it only lasted for two seasons at this level, in 1948, when the league was reduced to one single group it was relegated again. The club made a return to Bavarias highest league in 1950, winning the 2nd Amateurliga Oberfranken-Ost, the Landesliga Bayern had been renamed to Amateurliga Bayern in 1950, along with the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd as the new second division in Southern Germany. VfL took out the Amateurliga title in its first season there 1950–51, coming third on equal points with VfR Aalen and ASV Feudenheim, it lost 0–1 to the later in a decider. The following season, VfL finished second in the league, one point behind champions FC Amberg, with Heinz Wittig, the club had a player selected for the German team that finished fourth at the 1952 Summer Olympics. After a seventh place in 1953, the league was more divided into two regional groups, north and south and VfL became part of the northern group again. In 1953–54, it out the title in this league. A Bavarian title game was not played and VfL advanced to the 2nd Oberliga promotion round, in this competition, the club came first and, alongside southern Bavarian champions SpVgg Weiden, won promotion to the second division. VfL established itself as a side in its new league. In its second season, 1955–56, the set a home attendance record when 11,000 saw a 1–3 loss to FC Bayern Munich who would finish second in the league. In the 2nd Oberliga, considered a semi-professional league, VfL would pay its players DM60 a month to play for the club, the rise of the club from the Easy German was made possible by employers like Siemens and local sponsors. The 1957–58 season became the most successful for the club, finishing third and within four points of Oberliga promotion, the next season was almost as successful, coming fourth but seven points clear of a promotion spot. In the 1959–60 season, the club finished twelfth and, to avoid relegation, the club continued in the following year to struggle against the drop to the Amateurliga, with the gap to the relegation ranks getting smaller every season. In 1961–62, it saved itself by two points only and this mark was missed by six points in twelfth place and the club had to return to the now single-division again Amateurliga Bayern. Back in the division, VfL finished sixth in its first year. It managed a finish in this league in 1965–66 but then fell away to become a mid-table side until suffering another relegation, now to the Bezirksliga

37.
FC Penzberg
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The FC Penzberg is a German association football club from the city of Penzberg, Bavaria. The club briefly managed to reach the division of German league football. The FC Penzberg was formed on 14 March 1920 but was actually a continuation of the gymnastics clubs football department which had existed before the First World War. The club struggled to find a playing field in its early days. This was converted to a football field through back filling with ash, the local coalmine supplied technical support for this. The new ground was opened on 30 July 1921, the FCP had the opportunity to take part in a promotion round to the local A-Klasse in 1922 but was not strong enough to succeed. In the 1922–23 and 1923–24 seasons, the won the local championship. The club found it hard to compete with the clubs from Munich there and was immediately relegated. This relegation was followed by a decline in performance and interest in the club and it took until 1927 to win another local championship, initially, the team struggled again in this league but a good second half of the season saw it secure its position in it. The next season, the club was better equipped to hold the league, the club managed to remain in the A-Klasse until 1932, when it was relegated once more. Mostly unaffected by the rise of the Nazis in 1933, the FCP remained a top-team in the competition, commonly then called the Würmgau or Zugspitze regional league. More titles in this league followed in 1935 and 1937, the later saw the team move up a league once more but again it could not maintain this level. Back in local play, it won its title in 1939. After this, the outbreak of the Second World War made league football in the very difficult. Upon the end of the war, the club properly reformed on 17 February 1946, the FCP came second, on equal points to the ASV Cham but then lost a necessary decider 0–1 aet. It did however have a chance, playing the VfL Ingolstadt-Ringsee for one more place in the Landesliga. In the Amateurliga Südbayern in 1953–54, the club came out of fifteen teams. The season after, the team surprised everybody and won the league by three points, after a special meeting it was decided to take part in the promotion round to the 2nd Oberliga Süd

38.
TSV Schwaben Augsburg
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TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg. The associations football department was formed in 1903 and after 29 March 1919 played as Schwaben Augsburg, local bylaws required the formation of a fire brigade and in 1848 the members of TV also formed the Augsburger Freiwillige Feuerwehr. In 1853 TV was banned for political reasons by authorities fearful of democratic leanings, in 1907 former TV members also established FC Augsburg. MTV1863 Augsburg had re-united with its parent club in 1868 and in 1919, after the end of World War I and that same year the club was also joined by the members of SV Augsburg which had been established in 1905 as FC Pfersee. The comings and goings of TV club members continued in the interwar period, the women of Turnclub Augsburg and Damenschwimmverein Augsburg joined in 1919 and 1920 respectively. SV Schwaben was formed in 1924 by footballers, hockey players and that same year TV partnered up with TSV1925 Meitingen. TV offshoots SV Schwaben and SSV Augsburg merged to become Sport- und Spielvereine Schwaben Augsburg, and in 1933 FC Viktoria and Schwimmverein Delphi joined TV. Throughout this period the football side made frequent appearances in the Bezirksliga Bayern. In 1933 German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions, Schwaben Augsburg joined the Gauliga Bayern, but was relegated after just two seasons. The club returned to first division play in 1937, but again only stayed up for two years. Schwaben was promoted more in 1940, while the teams parent club TV Augsburg was forced by Nazi sports authorities into a merger with SSV Schwaben Augsburg to form TSV Schwaben Augsburg in 1941. The football team remained in a weakened Gauliga until the end of World War II playing as a lower to mid-table side, after the war occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in Germany, including sports and football associations. Former TSV footballers formed FC Viktoria Augsburg in late 1945, in this period, the club managed to march from the Oberliga straight down to the Amateurliga Bayern, and back, in consecutive seasons, an unusual archivemend. After the formation of the Bundesliga – Germanys first professional league – in 1963, nonetheless Schwaben continued to operate a football department, being joined by the footballers of Eintracht Augsburg in 1970. The team went on to advance to the highest amateur class, for many years from then, the club played as a yo-yo side moving between the Oberliga and the fifth division Landesliga Bayern-Süd. After one more relegation from the Oberliga in 2002, the club remained in the Landesliga, in 2007, it found itself back in the highest league of the Schwaben FA, the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben, for the first time since 1975. There the club struggled too and could not avoid relegation, to the Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd. In the Bezirksliga, the club met the BC Augsburg-Oberhausen, a named and based on the old BC Augsburg

39.
SpVgg Bayern Hof
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SpVgg Bayern Hof is a German association football club based in Hof, Bavaria. The club was founded on 1 June 1910 as Ballspielclub Hof, in 1913, they merged with FC Roland Hof and FC Phoenix Hof to become FC Bayern Hof. FC Bayern Hof was a decent, but unremarkable, local side through its early decades and it spent five seasons in the tier-one Bezirksliga Bayern from 1927. However, by that time World War II had overtaken that part of the country, after the war Bayern Hof advanced to the Landesliga Bayern in 1946 where they came out on top of the Staffel Nordbayern only to lose the divisional playoff to Wacker München. League re-structuring saw the club in the 2, Oberliga Süd to open the 1951–52 season. They remained competitive throughout the decade, generally finishing in the top half of the table, a second place result in 1959 put the club into Oberliga Süd to play first division football for the first time. In the pre-season 1969/70 Bayern Hof had a taste of football as they took part in the 1969 Cup of the Alps. In fact they hosted three games at their Stadion Grüne Au against Hellas Verona, Lausanne Sports and Bologna, in 1978, they slipped to the tier-three Bayernliga and began a descent that would land them in Landesliga Bayern-Nord by 1980. It made a permanent return to the Oberliga Bayern in 1994, when the new Regionalliga Süd was formed. A decade in the Bayernliga saw the finish fourth three times, in 1996,2000 and 2002, but, in 2004, it was relegated again. In 2005 FC Bayern Hof merged with SpVgg Hof to form SpVgg Bayern Hof, SpVgg Hof had been formed in 1893 as the football department of the gymnastics club TV Hof, itself founded in 1861. In 2006 the newly unified club captured the title in the Landesliga Bayern-Nord and were promoted to the fourth division Bayernliga. A difficult 2007–08 season saw the club in relegation trouble all season but eventually they managed to climb one rank above the relegation zone. In this game, a 1–0 victory over Jahn Regensburg II proved enough to maintain its league status, the following season, Hof was a strong contender for the league title, eventually coming second to TSV1860 Rosenheim and earning promotion to the new Regionalliga Bayern. The club was criticised by the BFV for its desolate second team who, uniquely for a Regionalliga team, was relegated from the ninth tier in 2011–12. In the 2012–13 season the club had to struggle against relegation all season and beyond, in a two-leg play-off against TSV Großbardorf Hof defended its league place with an aggregate score of 8–4. The following season the club finished 17th once more but this time was directly relegated back to the Bayernliga, Hof finished third in the Bayernliga in 2015–16 and qualified for the promotion round to the Regionaliga where it defeated Viktoria Aschaffenburg and returned to the fourth tier. Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality

40.
FC Amberg
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FC Amberg is a German football club from the city of Amberg, Bavaria. The team was established on 6 April 1921 as Amberg Fußballverein, following World War II on 9 November 1945 the club merged with Turnverein 1861 Amberg to form Turn- und Spielverein Amberg. The union was short-lived and the two went their separate ways on 15 July 1949 with the former VfL reorganizing as 1. The club won the local Oberpfalz championship in 1948 and originally qualified for the new Amateurliga, the Amberger side first came to note in the 1951–52 season, capturing the Amateurliga Bayern title, but failing in their attempt to advance through a promotion playoff to the 2. The club lost the 1956 title to ESV Ingolstadt, losing a decider 1–0 and they again made their way back in 1986 to what in 1978 had become the Amateuroberliga Bayern and played there as a middling side until 1991. The club made its appearance in DFB-Pokal in the opening round of the 1987 tournament. In 1994–95 Amberg made its last appearance in upper tier regional play, the club folded after this, being DM1.7 million in debt. A new club was formed within the TV Amberg, the FC Amberg and this new club started to make a recovery from the lower reaches of Bavarian amateur football in the early 2000s, reaching the level below the Oberliga, the Landesliga, in 2003 once more. For a number of years Amberg played as a side in the Landesliga Bayern Mitte before a loss in the relegation round in 2011 caused the club to drop back to the Bezirksoberliga. FC Bad Kötzting and Dergah Spor Nürnberg, Amberg finished fourth in the Bayernliga in each of its first two seasons back. In the 2014–15 season the club finished runners-up and thereby qualified for the round to the Regionalliga Bayern where it won promotion after two victories over VfR Garching. Amberg came second-last in the Regionalliga in 2015–16 and was relegated again, with the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier, all leagues from the Bezirksligas onwards were elevated one tier. The club has qualified for the first round of the German Cup only once, Source, FC Amberg profile at Weltfussball. de Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables

41.
FSV Bayreuth
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The FSV Bayreuth is a German association football club from the city of Bayreuth, Bavaria. The club was formed in a merger of the departments of 1. FC Bayreuth and BSV98 Bayreuth in May 2003, BSV was the product an earlier merger between VfB Bayreuth and TuSpo Bayreuth. The club was formed on 14 May 2003, when the departments of 1. FC and BSV98 Bayreuth merged, the two original clubs still exist and as non-football clubs. The new club started out in the tier-eight Kreisliga Bayreuth in 2003–04, in its second season, the club improved but it was not enough to earn promotion. The club took until its season in the league win promotion by finishing first in the league. In its first season in the Bezirksliga Oberfranken-Ost, FSV finished in secure mid-field, the following year, the club took out the championship in this league and earned promotion to the Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken for 2009–10. At the end of the 2011–12 season the team qualified for the newly expanded Landesliga after finishing seventh in the Bezirksoberliga, FC Redwitz in the promotion round. The 2012–13 season saw the club finish seventeenth in the Landesliga, in the first round of these Bayreuth lost to TuS1861 Feuchtwangen and was consequently relegated back to the Bezirksliga. In 2014 and 2015 the team finished runners-up in the Bezirksliga and it won the league in 2016 and was promoted to the Landesliga. TuSpo was formed on 4 December 1898 under the name of Freie Turner Bayreuth as a working class gymnastics club, in 1910, the club changed its name to Freie Turnerschaft Bayreuth and after World War I adopted the name Turn- und Sport 1898 Bayreuth. Like other workers and faith-based clubs, TuSpo was outlawed by the Nazis as politically undesirable in 1933 and it was reestablished in 1947 after the end of the war. As a football club, it never reached above the local A-Klasse, living in the shadow of the other, in April 1967, the club members voted in favor of taking part in merger negotiations with a number of other Bayreuth sport clubs. Most of these away from the idea of a merger. Formed as FC St. Georgen in 1913, the took up football just before the start of World War I and after the war. They made the decision to purchase their own football field. A number of old members formed a new VfB Bayreuth almost immediately and it soon advanced to the tier-two Bezirksliga, where it met strong northern Bavarian clubs like FC Bayern Hof

42.
1. FC Lichtenfels
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FC Lichtenfels is a German association football club from the city of Lichtenfels, Bavaria. Formed in 1906, the club did not rise to prominence till after the Second World War, the team became a dominant side in the northern division of this league, finishing second in 1947 and 1948. For the 1948–49 season, the league was reduced to a division and the club came third behind Jahn Regensburg and SpVgg Fürth. The club remained a side and came third once more in 1951. From 1953 onwards, the Amateurliga was split into a northern and it took part in the 1954 edition of the German amateur football championship but was knocked out in the group stage. Second place finishes in 1954,1956 and 1957 were the prelude to a championship in 1959–60 under player-manager Željko Čajkovski. The team then went on to face Schwaben Augsburg in the final of the Bavarian championship, through this performance, the club qualified for the promotion round to the second division but missed out to Borussia Fulda there. After this, the performances in the next two seasons dropped off but it managed to finish sixth in 1963, when only the top-seven qualified for the new single-division Amateurliga Bayern. The club holds top spot in the table of this era of the Bayernliga from 1945 to 1963, having spent 17 seasons at this level. The 1969–70 season became another highlight in the history, finishing second. This result qualified the team for the German amateur championship once more, the clubs performances after this quickly slipped and in 1973 a 17th place meant relegation from the Bayernliga after 27 continues seasons. The club was never to return to this level, Lichtenfels became part of the tier-four Landesliga Bayern-Nord from 1973 onwards, where it finished third in its first season. The club achieved a number of upper table finishes but was relegated from the league in 1978 after coming last,14 points clear of salvation and its new league now was the Bezirksliga Oberfranken West, the fifth tier of league football. It took until 1982 to recover from this fall, when it returned to the Landesliga, six seasons of lower-table finishes followed before the club was relegated once more in 1988, now to the new Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken. The club returned twice from this league to the Landesliga, in 1991 on the strength of a second place, in 1989, it missed out on promotion when it came equal second with SV Mitterteich and lost a decider. The club enjoyed some better seasons in the Landesliga in 1994–95, upon return to the Bezirksoberliga, it remained a top side, finishing fourth in 1999 and fifth the year after. It slipped to mid-field after a place in 2001 and was relegated once more in 2004. FCL dropped another level the season after, down to the Kreisliga, in this league, it met with Kickers Neustadt Wildenheid a team that had seen better times, too, albeit under a different name

43.
BSC Erlangen
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The BSC Erlangen is a German association football club from the city of Erlangen, Bavaria. From 1957 to 1979, the club belonged to the Amateurliga Bayern, the club traces its roots to SC Erlangen, founded in 1919. The club first rose to prominence in 1957, when it gained promotion to the Amateurliga Nordbayern, avoiding relegation narrowly in its first season, 1957–58, it became a fixture in the highest Bavarian football league for the next two decades, belonging to it for 22 seasons. The club established itself as a side and in 1961–62 took out the league title. This qualified the club for the German amateur football championship, where it got knocked out in the first round, the season after, a seventh place proved to be just enough to qualify for the now unified Bavarian Amateurliga which kicked off in 1963. The first two seasons in the Bayernliga, the club had to play against relegation, after this, the SpVgg established itself in the upper half of the table. The club rose as far as to a finish in 1969–70. From 1976, the clubs started to decline and it gradually slipped to the end of the table. In 1978–79, now with the league renamed Amateur Oberliga Bayern, the club had been the last founding member of the league to have belonged to it without interruption. In the all-time table of the Bayernliga from 1963 to 2008, playing in the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte from 1979, the club struggled to establish itself in this league. In 1981, the SpVgg Büchenbach renamed itself to BSC Erlangen, in the 1983–84 season, the clubs fortunes improved somewhat, finishing fourth in the Landesliga. After this season, it declined and in 1986 a last-place finish meant relegation to the Bezirksliga. In 1988, a Mittelfranken Cup win earned the club a place in the DFB Cup 1988–89 and it took the BSC until 1991 to return to the Landesliga. It returned with much better results and came second in the league in 1992–93, which qualified the club for the promotion play-off to the Bayernliga, the team remained a strong force in the league until 1995, when it slipped back to the lower half of the table. After battling relegation for a couple of seasons, the club finally was moved down in 1999–2000, the season after proved disastrous for the club, with only one win and three draws out of 30 games, a last place finish and relegation were inevitable. After this, the BSC has been moving up and down between Bezirksliga and Bezirksoberliga, playing in the once more since 2008. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club dropped back to the Bezirksliga after finishing eleventh in the Bezirksoberliga, the 2012–13 was a disastrous one for the club, winning only one game and conceding 214 goals. Consequently, BSC was relegated to the Kreisliga, the decline of the once proud amateur club results from a Euro 800,000 dept and the inability to pay its players

44.
ASV Herzogenaurach
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The ASV Herzogenaurach is a German association football club from the city of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. The history of the club is strongly interwined with the Sports equipment manufacturer Adidas, then just a company and sponsor of the ASV. FC Herzogenaurach, which was sponsored by local company, Puma. Formed in 1919 under the name Sportclub Pfeil, it changed its name to Freie Union and later, after the Second World War, during the Nazi era, the club was outlawed and disbanded due to its unionist and working-class background. The club existed as an amateur side until the mid-1960s. Another promotion followed in 1968, after a championship in the Bezirksliga, entering the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte for the 1968–69 season, the club was offered a sponsorship by the Puma AG. Seeing an opportunity to gain recognition, Adidas however moved in instead. Puma was already since November 1967 a sponsor of the local rival. In the Landesliga, the club met its local rival once more, the first season there together, ASV finished fourth while the FC came third, the clubs being separated by one point. The season after, the FC won the league and earned promotion to the Amateurliga Bayern while the ASV came third, the ASV had to wait another two seasons to do the same and win the league and promotion in 1972. The 1973–74 season became the most successful for the club to date and it won the Amateurliga Bayern title while its local rival found itself relegated from the league. The right to play in the German amateur football championship instead was only a small consolidation and the club was knocked-out by the SSV Reutlingen in the quarter finals. The club managed to attract the FC Bayern Munich for another friendly however, the 1974–75 season saw another respectable performance, finishing fourth in the league. After this, the club went into decline, having to play against relegation, which became a fact in 1977, while the FCH managed to stay in Bavarias highest amateur league until 1981, the ASV could not archive to return to it. Instead, it was left with a debt from its Bayernliga years. The late 1970s also saw the rise of two promising young footballers in Herzogenaurach who went to school together, günter Güttler, who played for the ASV and later joined FC Bayern Munich and Lothar Matthäus, who played for the FC and became Germanys most capped footballer. Matthäus could not play for the ASV even though it had at time the better under-19s side. Back in the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte, the ASV tried hard to regain Amateurliga Bayern status, the first two times, it missed out on top-spot by only one point, in 1979 to local rival FC

45.
MTV Ingolstadt
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The Männer-Turn-Verein von 1881 Ingolstadt or Mens Gymnastics Club of 1881 Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It was founded on 18 July 1881, until 2004, the club operated a football department but after a merger with local rival ESV Ingolstadt to form FC Ingolstadt 04 the footballers left for the new club. After a break of a number of years, MTV has returned to football, restarting at the lowest possible level. While the club was formed in 1881, it did not begin to play football until 1905, in a Germany-wide split between gymnastics clubs and their football departments in 1924, the footballers became independent but this was revoked in 1933. In the pre-Second World War days, the club lacked behind its local rival VfB Ingolstadt-Ringsee, after World War II occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in Germany, including sporting associations. The club was re-founded as Städtischer SV Ingolstadt 1881 and their original name was restored in 1948. The club qualified for the Landesliga Bayern in 1946, where VfB already played, the league had restarted a year earlier as the tier below the Oberliga Süd. The league was split into a northern and a southern group. A repeat of this performance in the 1947–48 season meant, the qualified for the now united Bavarian league. The club continued as a side in this league, but in 1951–52. In the following seasons, the team declined year-by-year and in 1957, ESV followed MTV in this direction in 1960. But while ESV promptly returned and even marched through to the 2nd Oberliga Süd, the changes in the German football league system in 1963, foremost the introduction of the Fußball-Bundesliga, saw the Bavarian football league system change, too. Below the Amateurliga Bayern, three regional Landesligas were formed and it recovered from this in 1965 and earned promotion to the Landesliga. In the 1965–66 Landesliga season, it won the straight away. After a second place in 1968, it won another Landesliga title in 1969 and it remained at this level for eight seasons, initially with good results but then gradually declining. It spent only one season, 1976–77, in the Landesliga before returning again to the Amateurliga Bayern. In retrospect, the era from 1976 to 1981 was to be the clubs most successful, with a Landesliga, the team missed out on the championship in the Amateurliga Bayern in 1977–78 by one point to 1. When Haßfurt decided for reasons not to take up its right for promotion, MTV was second in line

Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved s

1.
Pavel Nedvěd pictured in 2006 wearing a typical modern football kit

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Modern turf shoes, which are designed to be used on hard artificial turf or sand.

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Various styles of goalkeeping gloves

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Referee Howard Webb wearing a black strip

Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice ki

1.
Roberto Soldado wearing a Tottenham Hotspur away kit, 2013

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Washington Redskins in white throwback jerseys at home to New York Giants

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The road uniform of Tampa Catholic High School, Florida

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Ricky Ponting in Australia's yellow "away" kit

Football in Germany
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Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a system, with the Bundesliga and 2. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion, additionally, there are national cup competitions, most n

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Allianz Arena in Munich, venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup opening game

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Supporters choreography for the German Football Association club 1. FC Union Berlin

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Germany men's national football team in 2012

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Germany women's national football team in 2012

Straubing
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Straubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen, annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the Danube forming the centre of the Gäuboden, the area of Straubing has been continuously settled since the Neolithic. The

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View of Straubing.

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Gäubodenvolksfest, Straubing

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Romanesque Church of St. Peter

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Gothic City Tower (Stadtturm)

Straubing Tigers
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The Straubing Tigers are a professional mens ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, which plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which can hold 5,800 spectators. The Tigers were promoted to the DEL in 2006, until 2012, the team could not finish better than twelfth in the league, due to having

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Straubing Tigers

Deutsche Eishockey Liga
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The Deutsche Eishockey Liga or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league that was founded in 1994. It was formed as a replacement for the Eishockey-Bundesliga and became the new league in Germany as a result. Unlike the old Bundesliga, the DEL is not under the administration of the German Ice Hockey Federation, the DEL currently has the highe

1.
Deutsche Eishockey Liga

Bezirksliga Bayern
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The Bezirksliga Bayern was the highest association football league in the German state of Bavaria from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, the league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse. Until the introduction of the Bezirksliga, the Kreisliga Südbayern

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Bezirksliga Bayern

Niederbayern
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Lower Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions - Landshut and Donau-Wald, recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge margins to the CSU. This part of Bavaria includes the Bavarian Forest,

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Befreiungshalle with River Danube

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Map of Bavaria highlighting the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Bavaria

Landesliga Bayern
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The current Landesligas were formed in 1963, when the Bundesliga was established. From 2012, when the Regionalliga Bayern was established, the Landesligas were expanded from three to five divisions, previous to that, from 1945 to 1950, the Landesliga Bayern existed as a tier-two league below the Oberliga Süd. From 1945 to 1950, the Bayernliga was c

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The Landesligas from 1963 to 2012.

FC Bayern Hof
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SpVgg Bayern Hof is a German association football club based in Hof, Bavaria. The club was founded on 1 June 1910 as Ballspielclub Hof, in 1913, they merged with FC Roland Hof and FC Phoenix Hof to become FC Bayern Hof. FC Bayern Hof was a decent, but unremarkable, local side through its early decades and it spent five seasons in the tier-one Bezir

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SpVgg Bayern Hof

ASV Cham
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The ASV Cham is a German association football club from the city of Cham, Bavaria. The clubs most notable achievement was playing in the division from 1950 to 1962. The ASV Cham was formed as a club in 1863. After the end of the Second World War, TV was joined by another club, FC Cham, adopting the current name, ASV Cham. The new club almost immedi

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ASV Cham

Landesliga Bayern-Mitte
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The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte was the sixth tier of the German football league system in southern Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008, it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier. The league was disbanded in 2012, when the Regionalliga Bayern was introduced as the

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The Landesligas from 1963 to 2012

FC Herzogenaurach
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FC Herzogenaurach is a German association football club from the city of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. Formed in 1916, the club did not begin to play competitive football till 1919 due to the circumstances of the First World War. Between the two wars, the club played on local Middle Franconian level, at times as high as the Bezirksliga. With the rise of

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1. FC Herzogenaurach

Promotion to the Oberliga Bayern
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It involved the runners-up from the three Landesligas and the team in the Oberliga placed right above the relegation ranks. The Bavarian football federation decided on changes to the league system from 2012 onwards. With the introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern from 2012–13, it placed two Bayernligas, north and south, below the new league as the

1.
Promotion to the Bayernliga

EHC Straubing
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The Straubing Tigers are a professional mens ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, which plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which can hold 5,800 spectators. The Tigers were promoted to the DEL in 2006, until 2012, the team could not finish better than twelfth in the league, due to having

1.
Straubing Tigers

TSV 1860 Munich
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Turn- und Sportverein München von 1860, commonly known as TSV1860 München or 1860 Munich, is a German sports club based in Munich. The clubs football team plays in the 2, Bundesliga, after relegation from the Bundesliga following the 2003–04 season. 1860 Munich was one of the members of the Bundesliga in 1963, becoming West German champions in 1966

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Grünwalder Stadion

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1860 München

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Olympiastadion

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Allianz Arena

Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern
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The Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern was the seventh tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Lower Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fifth tier. The league was disbanded at the end of the 2011-12

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Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern

Under 19 Bayernliga
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The Under 19 Bayernliga is the second tier of under 19 youth football in Bavaria, set below the Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest. Until 1996, the league was the highest tier of under 19 football, containing the teams of such clubs as FC Bayern Munich. A Bavarian championship was played from 1946 onwards, only in 1952 and 1953 was it not held, un

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Under 19 Bayernliga

Bavarian football league system
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The Bavarian football league system of the Bavarian Football Association ranks within the German football league system. Its highest division, the Regionalliga Bayern, is currently the fourth tier of German football, the lowest league in Bavaria is currently the C-Klasse, which is the 12th tier of German football. The top-tiers of the system as ope

1.
Bavarian football league system

Bezirksoberligen Bayern
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The seven Bezirksoberligas Bayern were the third highest level of the Bavarian football league system, below the Bayernliga and the Landesliga Bayern from 1988 to 2012. They were the seventh tier of the German football league system, until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of the league system, the seven Bezirksoberligas

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Bezirksoberliga Bayern

Regionalliga
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The Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the tier of the system in 1994. Upon introduction of a new nationwide 3, liga in 2008, it was demoted to the fourth level of the pyramid. From the i

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Regionalliga

3. Liga
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Liga, is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2, Bundesliga and the semi-professional Regionalliga, which became the fourth division and init

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3. Liga

2. Bundesliga
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Bundesliga is the second division of professional football in Germany. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3, liga in the German football league system. Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition, a total of 125 clubs have competed in the 2. The decision to establish the league as the level of

1.
2. Bundesliga

Regionalliga Bayern
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The Regionalliga Bayern, is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. The league was established at the end of the 2011–12 season, the German league system, having gone through its last ad

1.
Regionalliga Bayern

Bayernliga
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The Bayernliga is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3, liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, un

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Bayernliga

Promotion and relegation
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In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. In some leagues, playoffs or qualifying rounds are used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and

1.
Association football

SpVgg Bayreuth
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SpVgg Bayreuth is a German football club based in Bayreuth, Bavaria. Apart from coming within two games of earning promotion to the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1979, the club reached the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal twice. A handful of club members reformed a rump side called FSV Bayreuth to carry on the activities of the original association and this

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SpVgg Bayreuth

FC Augsburg
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Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V. commonly known as FC Augsburg or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, the team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. With over 12,200 members,

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FC Augsburg against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in November 2012.

SSV Jahn Regensburg
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Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V. commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The football department was created in 1907, the football department separated in 2000 and is called SSV Jahn Regensburg. SSV Jahn play their games at Continental Aren

SpVgg Unterhaching
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Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The football team plays in the Bavarian Regional League, the German fourth division. Originally part of the gymnastics and sports club TSV Hachinger, SpVgg Unterhaching was established as an inde

ESV Ingolstadt
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The ESV Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, formed on 15 February 1919. Until 2004, the club operated a department but after a merger with local rival MTV Ingolstadt to form FC Ingolstadt 04 the footballers left for the new club. The club has over 1,600 members in 21 sports departments, the club is associated with the German

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ESV Ingolstadt

SpVgg SV Weiden
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SpVgg SV Weiden, formerly just SpVgg Weiden, is a German association football club from the city of Weiden, Bavaria. Playing in the tier-four Regionalliga Süd in 2010–11, the club had to declare insolvency after being more than Euro 1 million in debt. Unable to raise funds to continue competing in the league, Weiden declared on 30 November 2010 tha

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SpVgg SV Weiden

TSV 1860 Munich II
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The TSV1860 Munich II is the reserve team of German football club TSV1860 München, from the city of Munich, Bavaria. Until 2005, the team played under the name of TSV1860 München Amateure, in the 2014–15 season, the team plays in the tier-four Regionalliga Bayern. Within the club, it operates as a side, designated to develop players from the youth

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TSV 1860 München II

1. FC Schweinfurt 05
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FC Schweinfurt 05 is a German association football club that plays in Schweinfurt, Bavaria. The club was founded on 5 May 1905 and played in the local leagues, the team attempted a merger with Turngemeinde Schweinfurt von 1848 which lasted from 1928 to 1930 before the two groups parted ways again and the football division became 1. While the club d

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1.FC Schweinfurt 05

BC Augsburg
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BC Augsburg was a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Club Allemannia Augsburg in 1907 and played as Ballspiel-Club Augsburg from 1921 to 1969, facing imminent financial collapse, BC merged with the football side of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in July 1969 to form FC Augsburg. The union was short-lived and Sch

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BC Augsburg

TBVfL Neustadt-Wildenheid
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The TBVfL Neustadt-Wildenheid is a German association football club from the city of Neustadt bei Coburg, Bavaria. The club is a merger of TBV Wildenheid and VfL07 Neustadt, the latter achieved notability by playing in the 2nd Oberliga Süd from 1954 to 1963. The club should not be mistaken with the VfL Neustadt/Weinstraße, a club from Rhineland-Pal

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TBVfL Neustadt-Wildenheid

FC Penzberg
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The FC Penzberg is a German association football club from the city of Penzberg, Bavaria. The club briefly managed to reach the division of German league football. The FC Penzberg was formed on 14 March 1920 but was actually a continuation of the gymnastics clubs football department which had existed before the First World War. The club struggled t

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FC Penzberg

TSV Schwaben Augsburg
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TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg. The associations football department was formed in 1903 and after 29 March 1919 played as Schwaben Augsburg, local bylaws required the formation of a fire brigade and in

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TSV Schwaben Augsburg

SpVgg Bayern Hof
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SpVgg Bayern Hof is a German association football club based in Hof, Bavaria. The club was founded on 1 June 1910 as Ballspielclub Hof, in 1913, they merged with FC Roland Hof and FC Phoenix Hof to become FC Bayern Hof. FC Bayern Hof was a decent, but unremarkable, local side through its early decades and it spent five seasons in the tier-one Bezir

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SpVgg Bayern Hof

FC Amberg
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FC Amberg is a German football club from the city of Amberg, Bavaria. The team was established on 6 April 1921 as Amberg Fußballverein, following World War II on 9 November 1945 the club merged with Turnverein 1861 Amberg to form Turn- und Spielverein Amberg. The union was short-lived and the two went their separate ways on 15 July 1949 with the fo

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FC Amberg

FSV Bayreuth
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The FSV Bayreuth is a German association football club from the city of Bayreuth, Bavaria. The club was formed in a merger of the departments of 1. FC Bayreuth and BSV98 Bayreuth in May 2003, BSV was the product an earlier merger between VfB Bayreuth and TuSpo Bayreuth. The club was formed on 14 May 2003, when the departments of 1. FC and BSV98 Bay

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FSV Bayreuth

1. FC Lichtenfels
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FC Lichtenfels is a German association football club from the city of Lichtenfels, Bavaria. Formed in 1906, the club did not rise to prominence till after the Second World War, the team became a dominant side in the northern division of this league, finishing second in 1947 and 1948. For the 1948–49 season, the league was reduced to a division and

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1. FC Lichtenfels

BSC Erlangen
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The BSC Erlangen is a German association football club from the city of Erlangen, Bavaria. From 1957 to 1979, the club belonged to the Amateurliga Bayern, the club traces its roots to SC Erlangen, founded in 1919. The club first rose to prominence in 1957, when it gained promotion to the Amateurliga Nordbayern, avoiding relegation narrowly in its f

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BSC Erlangen

ASV Herzogenaurach
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The ASV Herzogenaurach is a German association football club from the city of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. The history of the club is strongly interwined with the Sports equipment manufacturer Adidas, then just a company and sponsor of the ASV. FC Herzogenaurach, which was sponsored by local company, Puma. Formed in 1919 under the name Sportclub Pfeil,

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ASV Herzogenaurach

MTV Ingolstadt
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The Männer-Turn-Verein von 1881 Ingolstadt or Mens Gymnastics Club of 1881 Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It was founded on 18 July 1881, until 2004, the club operated a football department but after a merger with local rival ESV Ingolstadt to form FC Ingolstadt 04 the footballers left for the new club. After a break of